| While all men polled voiced open and strong criticism against sexual harassment, it is still plaguing our lives |
| By Salma TalaatEgyptian women have long suffered sexual harassment in the streets, they protested against it, called for action and demanded stricter laws. Just last month a march against sexual harassment was attacked and assaulted by groups of men and the women had to flee and hide in nearby shops. So while women fight their battle against sexual harassment to walk the streets safely, we polled the streets looking to see what the other side of the story is, what men, the harassing gender, really think of sexual harassment. Luckily, it seems women aren’t alone in fighting their battle, the men we polled from different ages and backgrounds felt just as strongly about sexual harassment as we, women, did — why it still happens, is beyond us. Edited excerpts: The Reason “It can be a lot of things, [there are many] reasons. It can be due to social reasons, like the [lack of financial resources] to get married for a long time, and so on. There are a many reasons, really.” —Mohamed El Sayed, 48, shopkeeper “Deprivation? I really don’t know. Even the women in niqab [face veil] get harassed; it doesn’t matter. It’s like a disease, and it’s spreading, so it’s hard to stop, honestly.” — Ahmed Ezzie, 22, student “The reasons are culture and education. In Egypt, [the way women dress] matters. But naturally, there should be personal freedom. The girl mustn’t limit herself to [dressing conservatively] so nothing bad happens to her. But of course, the attire of some girls makes everyone think that just because some [women] dress that way [they] bring it on to themselves.” — Bassem Ramy, 30, Amer Group customer service employee “The reason is greed and vulgarity. If there were decency and proper upbringing to begin with, no one would ever do this. We never did this back in the day. Everyone should keep to him or herself and mind their own business.” – Gomaa Hamed, 80, doorman “In my opinion, men engage in sexual harassment due to various reasons like [feeling] masculine and feeling superior to women. [Sexual harassment] shows their domination over the opposite sex. However, in certain societies, it is more of a cultural thing as men engage in minor forms of harassment like [verbal harassment] women because they have grown accustomed to this by looking at older peers doing it.” – Zeeshan Humayun, 21, economist Some men have even expressed the need to take immediate and serious actions against harassment, including implementing stricter laws against harassers. “There should be rules concerning this issue. When something like this happens, there should be actions taken. If the government enforce rules that would make people fear doing it, people wont do it any longer,” says Ramy. “There should be awareness campaigns. Especially in schools, so that when [students] grow up they would know the difference between right and wrong. Women’s role in this is for her not to be afraid. If something happened with her, she should report it.” But while most men voice their concern and disdain towards sexual harassment, it still happens on daily basis and with various degrees to conservatively or liberally dressed women in the streets. |
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