“I Saw Harassment” (Shoft Ta7rosh) Initiative

Period: October 2012 – 30 June 2013

After the outbreak of the 25 January 2011 revolution, crimes of sexual violence and harassment kept rising and took on forms that were difficult for people working on women’s issues to track under the prevailing conditions — especially since the most recent statistics from human-rights and research centers working to combat sexual violence dated back to 2008.

For this reason, the Center for Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development (“ACT”) and the Fouada Watch initiative (affiliated with the ACT center) called for launching a pressure group to document and combat sexual-violence crimes through door-to-door campaigns, field work, and social media, as well as by providing legal and psychological support to girls and women who had experienced sexual violence.

Definition of the initiative:

“Shoft Ta7rosh” (“I Saw Harassment”) is a community pressure group made up of numerous non-governmental, rights-based and feminist organizations that work actively with members of society, from and toward the Egyptian street, to monitor and establish mechanisms for combating the crime of “sexual harassment” at the legal, psychological and societal levels.

Sexual harassment is a form of physical and psychological violence experienced daily by women, girls, female children, and also boys, in the street, at work, at school, or at university.

Given the growing phenomenon of sexual harassment, and the reluctance of policymakers and decision-makers in the executive bodies to take deterrent measures against it, with the Eid al-Adha holiday of 2012 approaching, the signatories of this statement announced the launch of a pressure group named (“Shoft Ta7rosh” / “I saw harassment”) to monitor sexual-harassment crimes and provide free legal support to anyone subjected to harassment or physical violence in the street, in public recreational areas, and at cinemas.

The work of “Shoft Ta7rosh” takes place through three tracks:

First — Social media: Communication takes place on various social-media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Eventbrite, a website, etc.) for any information about an incident of harassment or a real-time violation, through photos, video, police-report numbers, and documented information.

Second — Volunteering and participation: All organizations, coalitions, movements and other initiatives are welcome to network with the “Shoft Ta7rosh” group, as are volunteers from anywhere, to be physically present in Cairo and the governorates for field monitoring in front of gatherings, parks, cinemas and other hotspots of sexual harassment.

Third — Legal support: Legal support is provided to women through an operations room staffed by a number of specialized rights-based lawyers, free of charge, for any girl or woman who has experienced a violation or sexual harassment.

In addition, the initiative collects and documents information about the phenomenon of harassment during the holiday and issues daily statements throughout the Eid days about the most notable violations and the locations where harassers gather.

The first activities of the “Shoft Ta7rosh” initiative began with the launch of a round-the-clock operations room during the Eid al-Adha holiday in October 2012. Awareness-raising groups were formed and safe corridors were provided for women and girls who had experienced sexual violence or harassment. The initiative issued a daily report on the incidents of harassment and the monitoring carried out by its members.

 

Day One Report – Eid al-Adha 2012

“Shoft Ta7rosh” Operations Room Report — Day One of Eid al-Adha Cairo: 26/10/2012

Day One: The “Shoft Ta7rosh” initiative announced that it had monitored the problem of sexual harassment in the downtown Cairo area, where the operations room was located at the Abjadeya Cultural Center because of its proximity to the monitoring locations.

Monitoring groups were deployed in five main groups, each made up of two people (10 volunteers total), in addition to 4 volunteers running the operations room and follow-up, plus 2 volunteers who circulated among the groups at their locations to provide support.

Monitoring began at 3:50 pm for the first round, and from 7 pm to 10 pm for the second round.

Field map: 1. Talaat Harb Street (from Tahrir Square to 26th of July Street) 2. The Alfy intersection with 26th of July Street up to the High Court of Justice 3. Abdel Moneim Riad Square 4. The Nile Corniche from in front of Maspero to Qasr El Nil Bridge, toward Maadi 5. Emad El Din Street at the Clot Bey intersection up to the Alfy passage

Departure/return times for the first round (volunteers returned in this order): 5:20, 5:40, 5:25, 5:25, and 6:00.

Return times for the second round: 9:30, 9:35, 9:35, 9:50, and 9:55 pm.

Key indicators on the state of the phenomenon during today’s monitoring:

1. The police and Ministry of Interior’s stance was, in general, minimally responsive toward the “Shoft Ta7rosh” initiative; with some volunteers, security personnel actually worked against them — questioning their identity, letting harassers go, and taking no legal action against them.
2. Public engagement was relatively good in some hotspots — whether through people’s positive response to awareness materials distributed by volunteers, or through volunteers intervening in some situations to rescue girls from harassment — but no instance was recorded of bystanders themselves intervening to rescue girls during incidents of harassment.
3. It was observed that most violations were committed by boys aged roughly 8 to 20, with somewhat older individuals (20+) involved in a few hotspots, targeting girls aged 11 to 20 and older. Violations ranged from verbal harassment to physical harassment. Notably, when some of these boys were spoken to, they believed that the harassment was the girls’ fault and that girls who went out during the holiday were “asking to be harassed.” It should be noted that girls’ clothing was not the cause of these incidents, since the boys harassed any girl regardless of her clothing or age.
4. Most clusters of harassers (boys and young men) in the downtown area were concentrated around Qasr El Nil Bridge, Abdel Moneim Riad Square, and Talaat Harb Street in front of the cinemas, and harassment/violence rates exceeded 60%. The initiative hopes that, going forward, this rate can be reduced through society-wide cooperation in the street to help eliminate the phenomenon.

Incidents:

Location: in front of Metro Cinema, Talaat Harb Street

• A group of harassing boys gathered around a female correspondent from CBC while she was interviewing “Shoft Ta7rosh” volunteers. Campaign members also escorted girls who had been harassed to safe locations. Police refused to intervene and accused the camera crew of harming Egypt’s reputation.
• A group of boys aged 8–15 verbally harassed girls in the street. One, named Mustafa, age 15, told a volunteer his view of harassment: that girls have no right to go out on the street during the holiday because they know it will be crowded, and that any girl who goes out is “asking to be flirted with.” He said touching doesn’t affect him, and that sometimes it’s a bet among friends over who can successfully flirt with or harass a girl, and that “we’re not to blame — the fault is always the girl’s, for going out and for how she dresses.”
• A girl named Doha, 15, was physically harassed and terrorized by a group of boys, the oldest around 13, to the point that she was terrified to walk and broke down crying hysterically. The initiative made contact with her and volunteers offered her the chance to speak with a psychological specialist affiliated with the initiative, which she accepted.
• Two girls (Asmaa Ahmed, 16, and Eman Ahmed, 18) were subjected to obscene verbal harassment by groups of young men and boys gathered in front of Miami Cinema, and fled running toward Tahrir Square.

Location: the Alfy intersection with 26th of July Street up to the High Court of Justice

• Members of the initiative tried to put up campaign posters on the wall of Rivoli Cinema; the cinema manager welcomed the idea and agreed to display them inside and outside the cinema.

Location: Talaat Harb Street

• At around 8:20 pm, a man in his early thirties named Ahmed Hammada, from Shurbra Al-Qous, physically harassed a member of the “Shoft Ta7rosh” campaign. At the start of Talaat Harb Street he brushed against her from the front; she moved away, assuming it was accidental due to crowding. About 10 minutes later, in front of Miami Cinema, the same man touched her from behind. Realizing it was the same man following her to harass her again, she turned to confront him; he fled to the adjacent sidewalk. She pursued him to confront him, and he responded by accusing her, saying “You’re the one harassing me — I didn’t do anything to you.” Suddenly a police officer appeared, detained the man, and the girl went with him to file a police report documenting the incident. The report was referred to the prosecution early the next morning — the second harassment report filed on the first day of Eid that the “Shoft Ta7rosh” team recorded.

Location: Qasr El Nil Bridge

• Five young men, around 19, physically harassed two girls around 17. Police intervened and arrested one of them.

Location: near the Abdel Moneim Riad statue at the foot of the 6th of October Bridge

1. A group of four boys aged 10–15 physically harassed three girls aged 12–17 (touching, grabbing hands, etc.); the girls escaped toward the Corniche around 5 pm. Police response: a traffic conscript who did nothing.
2. Two young men in their twenties on a motorbike verbally harassed two girls (16–17); volunteers approached the girls, who asked what the fliers were; when the harassers saw the volunteers with the girls, they backed off and moved on to harass around five other girls.

Location: Mahmoud Bassiouny Street

• Four young men aged 16–18 formed circles around girls in the street, harassing them with obscene language. When volunteers began filming them, they were surprised by a group of roughly 20 boys who ran toward the girls chanting “heeeeey, party, party,” forming a circle around two girls and harassing them; after about two minutes of physical and verbal harassment they dispersed and moved toward other girls. Police response: no security present.

Location: from Tahrir toward the Nile Corniche, parallel to the Arab League wall

• A group of boys gathered, blocked the street, and harassed girls, stealing one girl’s phone; a passerby intervened and returned it. Police response: security prevented “Shoft Ta7rosh” members from filming and did not intervene to help the girls.

Location: in front of the Arab League building, at the start of Qasr El Nil Bridge

• First incident: Members witnessed an assault on 3 girls by no fewer than 6 boys, who physically assaulted and harassed them, then stole one girl’s mobile phone. Police response: security personnel watched without intervening. (Location: under the Qasr El Nil Bridge underpass.)
• Second incident: Members witnessed a mob-harassment incident against no more than 5 girls, attacked by no fewer than 40 boys who harassed them collectively. Police response: security did not intervene at all except when members began filming, to stop them. (Location: Nile Corniche toward Maadi.)

Notes:

1. Affirmation of the rule of law and rejection of any private actions or calls to confront this crime with violence.
2. Continued passivity of police/Interior Ministry personnel and their limited intervention; pressure on decision-makers to take positive action to eliminate the phenomenon.
3. The initiative calls on any party or entity to adopt the idea of holding a national conference bringing together psychologists, politicians, religious scholars and others to devise mechanisms or solutions for genuine engagement with Egyptian civic culture to help eliminate sexual harassment.
4. Executive and legislative decision-makers should adopt a vision for eliminating this phenomenon.
5. The role of civil-society organizations and community, rights-based, and political initiatives is affirmed; the clear networking that has begun among a large number of these organizations and initiatives, and their taking to the street for awareness-raising on harassment, will help eliminate the problem in the near future.

 

Day Two Report – Eid al-Adha 2012

“Shoft Ta7rosh” Operations Room Report — Day Two of Eid al-Adha Cairo, 27 October 2012

The “Shoft Ta7rosh” initiative reaffirms its commitment to entirely peaceful means, supporting volunteer and awareness work, without any need, under any pretext, to recommend the use of violence or incitement to it.

For the second day in a row, “Shoft Ta7rosh” provided its support to the community through various activities throughout the day to curb sexual-harassment crimes and spread awareness of the dangers of this phenomenon, in addition to members making a notable, effective contribution to creating safe corridors for girls and women in some cases requiring direct intervention to support and rescue a girl (mob-harassment incidents). The initiative announced that its activities began at 9:00 am and the operations room closed at 10:00 pm.

Field map for Day Two: 1. Talaat Harb Street: from Tahrir Square to 26th of July Street. 2. The Alfy passage at 26th of July Street up to the High Court of Justice, and the Alfy passage from the Emad El Din direction to Clot Bey. 3. Abdel Moneim Riad Square: from the end of Mahmoud Bassiouny Street to the Abdel Moneim Riad stop. 4. The Nile Corniche: from in front of the Maspero building to Qasr El Nil Bridge.

First round timings: Group met at 9 am in front of Abdeen prosecution to attend, with a colleague, a hearing on a report she had filed against a harasser, until noon, when the prosecution ordered the suspect held for 4 days pending investigation (Case No. 11661/2012, Qasr El Nil misdemeanors).

Second-round departure/return times: Group 1: departed 3:05 pm, returned 4:46 pm. Group 2: departed 3:10 pm, returned 6:00 pm. Group 3: departed 3:09 pm, returned 4:45 pm. Group 4: departed 3:12 pm, returned 4:55 pm.

Incidents and reports:

Location: Nile Corniche, from in front of Maspero to Qasr El Nil Bridge

• Near the foot of Qasr El Nil Bridge, a large group of young men accosted two girls, pulled off one girl’s headscarf, and touched parts of the other’s body.

• Near the Arab League building wall, 3 young men collectively touched the body of a veiled girl.

• In the Qasr El Nil Bridge underpass, a large group of young men surrounded four veiled girls and touched their bodies. When some bystanders caught these young men and handed them to police, police released them immediately without taking any action.

• Three girls were surrounded by two groups of young men while crossing the road in front of the Qasr El Nil Bridge ramp; the groups touched the girls from front and back, and when the girls tried to run, the resulting confusion caused a traffic collision between two cars and blocked traffic.

• On the Corniche, a group of young men accosted a young man and his fiancée as they walked; when he tried to defend her, they beat him severely and physically harassed the girl. Despite a police presence nearby, they did not intervene to stop it or arrest the attackers.

Campaign members photographed a large number of these mob-harassment incidents in the area. It should be noted that in every recorded case, police were very close to the incidents and never intervened to stop them or arrest the attackers.

Location: Talaat Harb Street, from Tahrir Square to 26th of July Street

Volunteers observed several patterns behind the spread and rising rate of harassment crimes:

1. A large number of boys aged 10–15 accosted three veiled girls, touching them and trying to pull their headscarves off; shop owners came out, beat the boys, dispersed them, and helped the girls.

2. In front of Metro Cinema, a veiled woman accompanied by her elderly veiled mother and her daughter was subjected to mob harassment; she kept screaming and broke down, and nearby police did not intervene to stop it or help her.

3. A group of ten young men harassed four veiled girls in front of Miami Cinema; one girl verbally confronted them, and campaign members formed a safety corridor for the girls until they were clear of the harassers.

4. A large group of young men harassed 3 veiled girls in the passage next to Miami Cinema, forcing the girls out onto the main street.

5. A large group of boys aged 11–14 surrounded three girls of roughly the same age, forcing them to take refuge in a shop to escape.

6. (Duplicate of the above pattern was recorded again.)

7. While police forces heavily present in the area were rotating shifts, this caused a spike in harassment incidents.

All of the above was corroborated by the rest of the campaign members across all areas: security personnel present near every one of these incidents, without intervening to stop them or arrest the harassers.

 

Day Three Report – Eid al-Adha 2012

“Talaat Harb tops the list for harassment incidents, and by day police conscripts on the Corniche harass girls!!!”

“Shoft Ta7rosh” Operations Room — Day Three of Eid al-Adha Cairo, 29 October 2012

The “Shoft Ta7rosh” initiative reaffirms its commitment to entirely peaceful means, and its support for volunteer and awareness work, without need, under any pretext, to use or incite violence.

The third day of Eid al-Adha 2012, like the previous days, saw its joy marred by harassment crimes that have sharply increased recently. Separately, the third day carried yet more incidents of sexual harassment, and while a noticeably larger police presence was observed on the third day, it had no real impact on the ground.

Field monitors for “Shoft Ta7rosh” also noted a marked decrease in harassment incidents at the locations the initiative had previously announced it would be monitoring.

Harassment of a member of the initiative:

While a member of “Shoft Ta7rosh” was being filmed by a media outlet in front of Madbouly Bookshop, a harassing young man harassed the pair, disrupted the filming, took out his phone to try to film the colleague while flirting with her, which upset her; she tried to stop him but he refused. With the intervention of initiative members and others, the young man tried to flee but was caught and is now at the Qasr El Nil police station on Talaat Harb Street to have a report filed. Colleague Nirvana Sami, a “Shoft Ta7rosh” member, filed report No. 5, Tahrir Personal Status, dated 28/10/2012, against the accused Karam Nabil Abdel Fattah, on charges of: catcalling, attempting to obstruct her and block her path while she was recording with a media outlet. He was to be brought before the Qasr El Nil prosecution the following morning. (A later summary in the report notes he was ultimately released by the prosecution.)

Field map for Day Three: 1. Talaat Harb Street: from Tahrir Square to 26th of July Street. 2. The Alfy passage at 26th of July Street up to the High Court of Justice, and the Alfy passage from Emad El Din to Clot Bey. 3. Abdel Moneim Riad Square: from the end of Mahmoud Bassiouny Street to the Abdel Moneim Riad stop. 4. The Nile Corniche: from in front of the Maspero building to Qasr El Nil Bridge.

Departure/return times, Day Three: Group 1: 3:05 pm – 8:46 pm. Group 2: 3:10 pm – 9:00 pm. Group 3: 3:09 pm – 8:45 pm. Group 4: 3:12 pm – 8:55 pm.

Incidents and reports:

Location: Nile Corniche, from Maspero to Qasr El Nil Bridge

• Near the foot of Qasr El Nil Bridge, a large group of young men accosted two girls, pulled off one girl’s headscarf, and touched parts of the other’s body.

• A conscript around 22 physically harassed a girl around 17 near Qasr El Nil Bridge.

• A young man around 20 physically harassed a girl at the boat dock — grabbing her hand violently, kissing her hand, and trying to embrace her; she pushed him away forcefully. Notably, security conscripts were watching the whole time and did not intervene — instead they laughed and mocked the girl afterward.

• At Maspero, a man in his thirties physically harassed a woman carrying a child, touching her from behind at first; she nervously ignored him and tried to walk away quickly, but he approached again and violently grabbed the child from her; she instinctively held onto the child, so he pulled her toward him to embrace her, but she pushed him away and fled with her child.

• At Qasr El Nil Bridge, young men aged 15–17 formed a circle around three girls aged 14–16 and would not let them leave until they had forced the girls to give up their phone numbers.

• A young man around 16 physically harassed a girl who was with her fiancé (also her cousin); a verbal altercation broke out with another young man (around 21) accompanying the harasser, who said “So what if he harassed her, or flirted, or touched her — look how she’s dressed, then talk.” (Note: the girl was, in fact, veiled.) “Shoft Ta7rosh” team members intervened to separate them and took the young man and his fiancée away from the area.

Location: Talaat Harb Street, from Tahrir Square to 26th of July Street

Volunteers noted several patterns behind the spread of harassment and rising rates:

1. A large number of boys aged 10–15 accosted three veiled girls, touching them and trying to pull off their headscarves; shop owners intervened, beat them, dispersed them and helped the girls.

2. In front of Metro Cinema, a veiled woman with her elderly veiled mother and daughter was subjected to mob harassment; she screamed and broke down, and nearby police did not intervene.

3. A group of ten young men harassed four veiled girls in front of Miami Cinema; one confronted them verbally, and campaign members created a safety corridor for the girls.

4. A large group of young men harassed 3 veiled girls in the passage next to Miami Cinema, forcing them onto the main street. 5–6. A large group of boys aged 11–14 surrounded three girls of similar age, forcing them to take refuge in a shop. While police heavily present in the area were changing shifts, that shift-change itself produced a spike of harassment incidents.

All of this was corroborated by the rest of the campaign across all areas: security personnel present near every case without intervening to stop it or arrest the harassers.

Additional incident — Talaat Harb Street area, in front of a shop: around 4 pm a group of young men aged 14–16 chased girls around 15. One embraced a girl, Nora, from behind; she began screaming and cursing at him and pulling away forcibly; the “Shoft Ta7rosh” team intervened immediately and the boys fled. The team spoke with Nora and tried to calm her; crying and distraught, she said: “These guys had been following us for a while — we went and complained to the conscript and he did nothing, they kept saying awful things, and the first chance he got, one of them grabbed me from behind.” She added that she no longer felt safe in the street, that boys “won’t be satisfied until girls stay home,” and that she genuinely intended to do that because the street “isn’t hers anymore.” She said she felt powerless — once she tried to curse at a harasser and he hit her with a pen. A team member, (F.F.), comforted and embraced Nora, telling her: “You’re just like any boy — you’re missing nothing, no hand, no leg, no eye. You have every right to go out, walk around, and wear what you want.” She encouraged Nora to stay in touch with the initiative, to speak up and not stay silent about her rights, because the fault is not hers. Notably, bystanders’ reactions during this incident were very poor — some helped the harasser escape and mocked the girl, dismissing her crying and calls for help before the “Shoft Ta7rosh” team intervened.

Two families at the Tahrir entrance to Talaat Harb Street questioned the team about who they represented and why they had chosen to work there specifically, what happens to a harasser once caught, whether any of them had themselves been harassed before (so they could understand a girl’s perspective), and whether they worked for the government. The team answered all their questions, raised awareness of the harassment problem, and gave them the initiative’s materials.

Near Miami Cinema, a group of young men aged 10–15 verbally harassed and chased three 12-year-old girls, who ran to escape; when they reached the cinema, team member (G.A.) stopped them and asked what was happening. One girl said a boy had chased her and touched her from behind; she ran to a traffic officer to complain, and he too harassed her verbally. The team escorted the girls to safety and hailed a taxi for them, while another member distracted the boys by pretending to film them, buying time for the girls to be gotten away safely.

The team also conducted awareness work alongside monitoring: between roughly 3 and 4 pm, they distributed materials on Talaat Harb Street and engaged with people, and near Miami Cinema one member, (N.A.), spoke with a group of young men aged 15–22, introduced herself and the initiative, asked their names, ages, and views on harassment, and whether they harassed during the holiday and why. They initially answered that the girl is the cause because of her clothing; she showed them photos of veiled and even fully-veiled (niqab-wearing) girls who had been harassed, and by the end of the discussion they agreed that harassment was not the girl’s fault nor about her clothing, and agreed not to harass; she gave them the initiative’s materials.

Another member, (G.A.), spoke with a group of girls, one of whom said she was afraid to stand up for herself because once, after she had told her father she had confronted a harasser, he told her: “You must have done something wrong, or acted wrong, or he’d think you were not a decent girl” — after which she decided never to respond to a harasser again. The same member also spoke with a ten-year-old boy who believed a girl’s clothing was the reason for harassment; she tried to raise his awareness but he did not respond, insisting that girls who go out during the holidays, or go out alone, are “asking for it,” whereas his own sister was “respectable” because she dressed modestly and he went out with her to protect her.

Notes and observations:

• “Shoft Ta7rosh” affirms its rejection of any use of violence or threat of violence against any offender, however grave their crimes — the response and punishment must come through the force of law, so that justice and stability prevail.

• Any calls or activities that incite or use violence are explicitly disowned by the initiative and its members, who call instead for rejecting violence, focusing on awareness, and providing safe corridors for women and girls.

• We reaffirm the absence of any modern vision or mechanisms, or any standards for improvement, among the lax security apparatus faced with hordes of harassers.

• We comment on statements attributed to the Prime Minister, as widely reported by news agencies, that “the government is intensifying efforts to prepare a bill to toughen the punishment for sexual harassment” — as though such a punishment already existed — which raises deep concern about how the current government handles core issues of citizens’ safety and security. In fact, the current government bears full responsibility for the growth of this phenomenon: the Prime Minister witnessed the violations against women and girls during the last Eid al-Fitr while in office, and has taken no deterrent measures since.

 

Day Four Report – Eid al-Adha 2012

“Shoft Ta7rosh” Operations Room

“Harassers on the rise, and dark forces blame girls for being harassed — on the second day of the holiday girls were stripped of their clothes, and on the third and fourth days we recorded incidents of harassment by some police officers themselves”

Cairo, 30 October 2012

The pressure group monitoring and documenting sexual-harassment crimes against women and girls, known as “Shoft Ta7rosh,” announced that over the four days of the Eid al-Adha holiday its team had carried out field monitoring and documentation of sexual-harassment crimes, as well as awareness-raising for young people and girls in public places and known harassment hotspots, in order to encourage citizens to positively reject and confront the phenomenon, and to encourage girls to report incidents of harassment without fear of negative social pressures, and without being swept up by the reactionary calls made by dark forces trying to restrict women’s rights and strip away the gains women achieved after decades of struggle.

Field map for Day Four: same four locations as previous days (Talaat Harb Street; the Alfy passage; Abdel Moneim Riad Square; the Nile Corniche from Maspero to Qasr El Nil Bridge).

Departure/return times, Day Four: Group 1: 2:30 pm – 8:46 pm. Group 2: 2:35 pm – 9:00 pm. Group 3: 2:33 pm – 8:45 pm. Group 4: 2:40 pm – 8:55 pm.

Incidents and reports, Day Four:

Location: from Talaat Harb Square to Abdel Moneim Riad Square via Mahmoud Bassiouny Street

• Two girls in their twenties were surrounded near the Abdel Moneim Riad statue by a group of six boys aged 14–16, who kept grabbing their clothing and bodies until some passersby intervened and rescued them.

• Two young men in their twenties verbally harassed two girls of similar age all the way from Abdel Moneim Riad to the entrance of the Egyptian Museum, and moved off only when they spotted nearby police.

• Three young men aged 18–20 verbally harassed girls of similar age from Abdel Moneim Riad Square almost to Tahrir Square, changing direction once they noticed campaign members wearing initiative T-shirts.

• Two young men aged 16–18 harassed a veiled woman in her thirties, touching parts of her body in Abdel Moneim Riad Square; when she screamed and cursed at them, they backed off.

• Members confirmed that all passages of the Sadat Metro station were empty of any security presence, and that there was no security presence in Tahrir Square except around the Egyptian Museum and the Mogamma building.

Location: from the foot of Qasr El Nil Bridge on the Nile Corniche to the Maspero building

14 incidents were recorded in this area, the most notable being:

• Five boys aged 14–16 harassed a girl around 16 under the October Bridge, touching parts of her body; she fought back and managed to escape.

• Two girls in their twenties, accompanied by three children, were physically harassed near the foot of Qasr El Nil Bridge by 3 boys aged 16–17; a street vendor rescued them.

• Two river-boat workers aged 16 and 17 verbally harassed two girls of similar age accompanied by their mother; one of them then physically harassed one of the girls.

• A group of five young men in their early twenties approached a campaign member after recognizing him by his campaign T-shirt and discussed the initiative’s goals with him; he raised their awareness of the dangers of harassment for society, and noted they were receptive to the ideas he shared.

• Two police conscripts (Ministry of Interior) verbally harassed four veiled girls in their twenties; one got so close to one of the girls he nearly touched her.

• A fight broke out between police and some young men in front of Metro Cinema after the young men removed barriers; during the scuffle, one young man exploited the chaos to violently and physically harass a girl, with no police intervention to help her despite witnessing it.

Location: in front of Miami Cinema

• A 13-year-old boy physically harassed two girls aged 12 and 14; when some people tried to intervene he fled and stood some distance away describing to a campaign member how he had done it; by coincidence, Major Ahmed Hashad was nearby, overheard the details, and arrested him.

• Two young men around 20 verbally harassed two 15-year-old girls; when they noticed a campaign member trying to film them, they stopped, and the member tried to raise their awareness of their wrongdoing but felt little real response from them.

• A young man tried to enter Metro Cinema through the girls’ queue; a police lieutenant confronted him, they scuffled and his trousers were torn, and he was arrested.

As part of “Shoft Ta7rosh” activities, members raised public awareness of the dangers of harassment:

• Citizens’ responses to campaign members varied — some engaged in long conversations insisting girls’ clothing was the root cause of harassment; when confronted with photos taken by initiative members showing harassment happening (almost entirely, with rare exceptions) to veiled and even fully-veiled girls, some began to reconsider and started genuinely trying to understand the seriousness of the phenomenon.
• One campaign member, while riding a microbus home from Abdel Moneim Riad to Helwan around 10:30 pm the night before, witnessed five passengers aged around 18 verbally harass four girls among the passengers. When member Mohamed El-Hadary tried to talk to them to get them to stop, they verbally abused him; other passengers stepped in to stop the young men, and succeeded.

 

Statistical Results: Monitoring and Follow-up of Violence and Harassment Crimes During the Holiday

Age distribution of harassers: 8–12: 15% · 12–16: 30% · 16–20: 28% · 20–25: 21% · 25–30: 3% · 30–35: 3%

Age distribution of harassed girls and women: 8–12: 14% · 12–16: 25% · 16–20: 35% · 20–25: 20% · 30–35: 6%

Security presence/response at harassment hotspots: – Day One: Police intervention estimated at only 3%; in some hotspots police watched harassment occur and did nothing; in some recorded cases, police actually prevented the “Shoft Ta7rosh” team and media from documenting the violations. – Day Two: Police intervention was essentially imperceptible — even lower than Day One (3%), effectively nil; as on Day One, they did not intervene in any recorded incident. – Day Three: Police intervention around 5%; police presence/numbers in the downtown area were higher than the first two days, but notably, in some hotspots recorded by the team, police themselves verbally and physically harassed girls, in locations such as Qasr El Nil Bridge, the Corniche, Abdel Moneim Riad Square, and Miami Cinema. – Day Four: Police intervention around 7%; police numbers were lower than Day Three, though officers stationed in front of cinemas tried to place barriers between young men and girls; however, security was thin in the metro passages. In some hotspots police did not intervene in situations recorded by the team, and in some hotspots recorded by the team, police themselves verbally harassed women and girls.

Community reactions to the initiative: – Day One: Harassers’ response to awareness efforts: 30% positive, 70% unresponsive. Girls’ response: 75% positive, 25% unresponsive. – Day Two: Harassers: 60% positive, 40% unresponsive. Girls: 75% positive, 25% unresponsive. – Day Three: Harassers: 60% positive, 40% unresponsive. Girls: 80% positive, 20% unresponsive. – Day Four: Harassers: 50% positive, 50% unresponsive. Girls: more than 95% positive, 5% unresponsive.

(The report includes a recap section repeating, in summary form, the most notable incidents and reports from Days One through Three, which duplicates material already translated above.)

 

Media Coverage and Wider Campaign Activities (late 2012 – mid 2013)

Since its founding and its work during the Eid al-Adha 2012 holiday, the initiative gained significant standing with various media outlets due to its credibility and skill in field and community work. This led the BBC to feature “Shoft Ta7rosh” (“I saw harassment”) prominently in an Arabic-language report on sexual harassment of girls in Egypt, describing it as a new and unique campaign confronting sexual harassment in the country — one that both raises women’s awareness of their rights and encourages them to report harassment, and calls on its members to confront harassers in the street and in public in order to expose their actions. (Media link omitted/condensed.)

With the start of January 2013, the wave of sexual terrorism and systematic violence against women and girls rose sharply, especially targeting female political activists and participants in demonstrations against Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt. This led “Shoft Ta7rosh” to maintain an almost continuous presence at political events in Tahrir Square during the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

The initiative networked with numerous other anti-sexual-violence campaigns, notably “Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment/Assault” (OpAntiSH), formed specifically to confront systematic sexual violence against women and girls in Tahrir Square during revolutionary events. (Facebook link for OpAntiSH omitted/condensed.)

The initiative also helped intervene to rescue numerous girls and women from harassment or attempted mob-rape incidents. To avoid spreading rumors or frightening women, “Shoft Ta7rosh” deliberately did not disclose the identities of women and girls subjected to this systematic violence. It issued a media statement on the sexual-violence incidents witnessed in Tahrir Square on the second anniversary of the revolution, reproduced below:

Media Statement on Sexual Harassment Incidents in Tahrir Square, 25 January 2013

“Harassment of women and girls is systematic, and hardline Islamist forces are backing the harassers”

On the second anniversary of Egypt’s revolutionary uprising (25 January), crowds of citizens took to the streets across Egypt to protest peacefully and to hold sit-ins in various Tahrir squares, demanding that the goals of the January revolution be achieved and that equality, law and justice for all be established.

From the early morning of Friday, 25 January 2013, various groups opposing sexual-harassment and mob-rape crimes against women and girls spread out, and “Shoft Ta7rosh” joined other initiatives and organizations to confront the risks of sexual harassment and rape against women in Tahrir Square.

Throughout the day, Tahrir Square saw only minor incidents involving individual actions by some abnormal young men or men, and most of these were handled by volunteers or by the women and girls themselves. The joint working group of all the initiatives and organizations, under the name “Anti-Harassment Force,” distributed T-shirts to volunteers from the various initiatives and campaigns, printed with “Against Harassment” on the front and “A Safe Square for Everyone” on the back.

As the sun set and evening approached, all the groups spread out across the various parts of Tahrir Square to monitor and respond to incidents of harassment and assault against girls and women.

With the seventh hour of Friday evening, 25 January 2013, Tahrir Square saw a large influx of thugs and lawless individuals who spread panic and terror among citizens present in Tahrir in large numbers, through a surge of sexual-harassment incidents that in some cases escalated to attempted indecent assault or mob rape — while, at the same time, Talaat Harb Street toward Tahrir Square saw a blatant assault on a number of Egyptian female activists with a long, honorable history of national struggle, without any justification or clear, logical explanation for targeting these leading figures of the national women’s movement.

A number of lawless individuals blocked the path of several activists as they made their way to Tahrir Square, among them the veteran activist Shahenda Maklad, Nour El-Hoda Zaki, Rawya Issa, and the actress Azza Belbaa. Remarkably, throughout the day, protesters had been carrying photos of a number of pioneering figures of the Egyptian women’s movement — among them Shahenda Maklad, who was assaulted that same evening. This was not the only incident that day: “Anti-Harassment Force” reported dealing with 19 other cases related to sexual harassment and attempted indecent assault, 6 of which required medical support, while “Shoft Ta7rosh”’s rescue group handled 4 cases inside the Sadat metro station and one further case behind the Omar Makram mosque. All of these recorded incidents are not the full extent of what was handled or recorded — only the initial monitoring results.

Recommendations and observations from the monitoring:

First: Sexual harassment and assaults on girls and females are systematic, not incidental or a byproduct of crowding or similar excuses for peaceful social gatherings.

Second: Numerous attempts were recorded to target activists affiliated with anti-harassment campaigns inside the square, causing injuries.

Third: The national forces gathered in Tahrir Square calling for the sit-in must bear their national responsibility to protect protesters from assaults on girls’ and women’s bodies; every political faction, national group, or party announcing a sit-in in Tahrir Square must seriously commit to securing one of the square’s entrances with its own members — not others’ — to ensure the protection of citizens inside the square and curb the spread of sexual-violence crimes and attempts to terrorize women and girls.

Fourth: We affirm that all these brazen assaults on the bodies of women and girls are nothing but veiled messages meant to terrorize Egyptian women, break their will, and exclude them from the political and social scene, in which women have become an essential element that cannot be marginalized or excluded.

Fifth: We hold political-Islam forces of all factions responsible for the harassment and sexual violence against women and girls in particular, and for unjustified violence in general against peaceful protesters across Egypt, given that they have become the decision-makers and controllers of the political decision in Egypt; even if they are not directly inciting it, their silence amounts to tacit approval of what is happening to women in Egypt’s streets. Nor do we forget the message the Freedom and Justice Party circulated on the morning of Eid al-Adha 2012, headed “Sister, don’t be a cause of harassment.”

Sixth: We affirm that we are adopting new measures and mechanisms to confront all forms of sexual violence and assaults on women and girls across Egypt, and especially inside Tahrir Square, while remaining committed to peacefulness and using all means of communication and awareness-raising for girls and women.

Cairo, 28 January 2013

 

(The initiative also engaged with numerous media outlets to explain its view of the systematic violence against women and girls and the attempted sexual terrorism witnessed in Egypt during the second anniversary of the revolution — a long list of media links has been condensed here.)

“Egyptians Against Corruption” award: The “Egyptians Against Corruption” movement awarded its “Egyptian Anti-Corruption Fighter” title for March jointly to “Anti-Harassment Force” (OpAntiSH) and “Shoft Ta7rosh,” honoring their remarkable efforts combating sexual harassment and protecting Egypt’s public squares from harassers — an award aimed at the group of activists and rights advocates helping protect Egypt’s girls from organized, systematic harassment intended to break Egyptian women’s will and suppress their freedom of opinion and expression, which no free, honorable Egyptian could accept. (The “Egyptians Against Corruption” movement was founded by media figure Bothaina Kamel in 2006 and highlights a monthly “anti-corruption figure” in addition to its annual award on World Anti-Corruption Day.)

“Shoft Ta7rosh” Tunisia: The initiative’s success in publicizing its goals and activities led a number of female civil-society activists in Tunisia to swiftly launch “Shoft Ta7rosh Tunisia,” working according to the rights-based vision of the Egyptian initiative, coordinating and cooperating with it organizationally across all activities. (Facebook link condensed; the launch received notable Egyptian media coverage — links condensed.)

“Shoft Ta7rosh” lecture at Damanhour Public Library: As part of its awareness campaigns on the dangers of sexual violence and encouraging girls and women to report incidents, the initiative held a public seminar in Beheira governorate at the Egypt Public Library in Damanhour on Wednesday, 20 February 2013, attended by around 50 young women and men; initiative officials gave a talk on confronting the risks of sexual violence against women and girls, self-defense methods, and how to file police reports for harassment and sexual-violence incidents. (Media coverage links condensed.)

Self-defense training for girls and women: Given the recent rise in sexual-violence incidents and attempted sexual terrorism against girls and women in Egypt, “Shoft Ta7rosh” decided to organize a number of athletic self-defense training sessions in basic combat-sport moves for girls and women, so they could repel any attack or attempt to violate their bodies. The initiative’s call succeeded in attracting dozens of girls and women — demand for training extended beyond the capital to governorates across Egypt. (Media coverage links condensed.)

The Egyptian Minister of Information — a Harasser of Distinction

“Shoft Ta7rosh” also played an active role in confronting incidents of verbal sexual harassment recently committed by the Egyptian Minister of Information, Salah Abdel Maksoud, toward female media professionals and journalists. The initiative issued a statement demanding his dismissal and accountability, and calling on the Presidency and the Cabinet to apologize to the Egyptian public for the minister’s conduct.

Text of the statement:

“Together to remove the harasser of distinction, ‘Metwally Salah Abdel Maksoud,’ Egyptian Minister of Information”

Amid growing hate speech toward women and girls across Egypt from inflammatory, sectarian-leaning channels that flagrantly violate citizens’ freedoms and rights, the Egyptian Minister of Information presents us with events and meetings he claims aim to raise media standards and professional ethics — while participating in these events are channels with inflammatory, sectarian orientations that have put the lives of Egyptian women citizens at risk and exposed them to sexual assault and attempts to terrorize women and girls, which has caused dozens of serious injuries documented in testimonies and reports filed by Egyptian women and girls who experienced sexual violence — a clear violation of their right to bodily safety and to public social peace, a fundamental right of every citizen entitled to the protection of a sovereign state.

Citizens’ rights have collapsed, and the Minister of Information has succeeded in siding with channels whose orientations and views have put the lives of Egyptian citizens — and other nationals resident in or visiting Egypt of both sexes — at risk.

The Egyptian Minister of Information has stated, in numerous filmed and broadcast interviews and conferences, that he holds an affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party.

The rationale for the minister’s appointment as a public official in the post of Minister of Information — a ministry the revolution had brought down and which the military-led government restored, and which the Brotherhood clung to — has fallen away.

He has failed to establish or continue media and cultural services that should be provided to citizens to improve the general public mood and encourage positive engagement grounded in transparency and credibility.

When all official information and data about Egyptians’ affairs falls, formally, under a person who has assaulted his national duty, violated freedoms, and built his responsibilities on suppressing journalists and referring them for investigation — since Salah Abdel Maksoud took office as Minister of Information, Egypt has seen a decline in media and professional standards; the deterioration has even extended to selective broadcasting, inconsistent official sources, and contradictions between official statements in Arabic and in English. Under Salah Abdel Maksoud as Minister of Information, the President has filed reports against journalists and media professionals amounting to nearly 200 complaints to the Public Prosecutor and lawsuits.

Salah Abdel Maksoud, who holds the post of Minister of Information, committed (verbal sexual harassment) against female media professionals and journalists in two documented, broadcast incidents that circulate under Creative Commons licensing:

• First incident: Mr. Salah Abdel Maksoud, commenting during an interview being conducted with him by presenter Zeina Yazji, described her as “hot” in a sentence with sexual overtones.
• Second incident: In response to a question from a female journalist — “Where is press freedom?” — the minister replied: “Come here, I’ll tell you where,” and continued: “Whoever thinks press freedom is being restricted should ask our beautiful, respected colleague” — at the Mostafa Amin and Ali Amin Journalism Awards ceremony at the Piramesa Hotel in Dokki.
• Third incident: In a media appearance on 24 March, when a female correspondent asked the Minister of Information a question about Egyptian television channel content, the harassing minister’s reply was: “I’ll tell you the same thing I told your colleague before — come here and I’ll tell you where the content is” — a response that came just days after his verbal harassment of another journalist at a press conference as well.

“Shoft Ta7rosh” demands:

1. The dismissal of Mr. Salah Abdel Maksoud, Minister of Information.

2. A formal apology from the Cabinet and the Presidency for what Mr. Salah Abdel Maksoud said, and for their failure to adhere to standards of competence in appointments.

3. Reconsideration of whether the post of “Minister of Information” should continue to exist, and deference to the views of media experts, non-governmental bodies concerned with media development, the Journalists’ Syndicate, and associations defending freedom of opinion and expression.

4. “Shoft Ta7rosh” demands that Minister Metwally Salah Abdel Maksoud be held legally accountable under Article 306 bis (a) of the Egyptian Penal Code — “whoever offends a woman’s modesty by word or deed in a public place or thoroughfare shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding one year and a fine of not less than 200 and not more than 1,000 Egyptian pounds, or either of these penalties.” Since this offense was committed by an official representing the state as Minister of Information, he must be punished under the law with an enhanced penalty and removed from office, given the affront to public decency he caused, and given that he repeated the same offense knowingly.

“Shoft Ta7rosh” also called for a protest in front of the Radio and Television Building in Cairo demanding the minister’s dismissal and accountability. (Facebook event link condensed.) The call for the protest, and its coverage, received considerable media attention. (A long list of media outlets that covered the protest call has been condensed here — including Al-Balad TV, Youm7, Tahrir News, Al-Wafd, Al-Dostour, Al-Masry Al-Youm, Al Jazeera, Mobtada, Al-Masdar, Vetogate, Sada El-Balad, and others.)

 

The “Munajjid Needle” Self-Defense Tool

(Continuing the informal self-defense guide begun in Part 1, in colloquial Egyptian Arabic, addressed directly to women.)

“See how simple that was? Here’s an even simpler one — the ‘munajjid needle’ [upholsterer’s needle], yes that’s really its name, and it’s the initiative’s latest self-defense tip. It’s the big needle upholsterers use to make mattresses and sofas — you can easily find one at an upholstery shop, or ask whoever gave you this flier. What can you do with it, sweetheart? Simple: whenever you’re wearing a bra, without any embarrassment, you can pin the needle to the bra strap so it’s close to your hand. It’s a big needle, so there’s enough of it to grip in your fist with plenty left over to go into the body of anyone whose hand reaches for you.”

The initiative also networked and coordinated with numerous organizations working against sexual violence and anti-harassment initiatives — including the Nadeem Center, “Anti-Harassment Force” (OpAntiSH), and “Shayfeen.com” (“We’re Watching You”) — to receive reports of violations and violence against women and to cooperate on intervention and rescue. Emergency numbers for the various operations rooms were published:

Emergency and rescue numbers — “Share it / Come out / Don’t be afraid / You have rights / You are a woman / You are a revolution”

“Shoft Ta7rosh” announced it would be present around the Ittihadiya Palace to provide psychological support, safe houses, safety vehicles, awareness groups, and intervention/rescue groups, in coordination with several civil parties and revolutionary forces — in addition to coordinating with numerous other rights organizations and initiatives working against violence and discrimination, such as the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, the “Shayfeen.com” movement, “Egypt’s Girls Are a Red Line,” Fouada Watch, “Anti-Harassment Force” (OpAntiSH), and “Tahrir Bodyguard” — some present around Tahrir Square and others scattered across Egypt. All of these numbers receive any reports related to sexual violence and sexual terrorism against women and girls across Egypt, and the relevant operations rooms are notified of incidents as soon as they occur for intervention, rescue and appropriate support.

Numbers: Shoft Ta7rosh: 01150118822 / 01282993800 / 01005865040 / 01065308208. Shayfeen.com: 16951 (standard call rate). Anti-Harassment Force: 01202390087 / 01157892357 / 01016051145. Egypt’s Girls Are a Red Line: 01145706693 / 01092002202. All of the above numbers receive reports of sexual harassment and sexual violence against women and girls during the various marches and around Ittihadiya Palace and Tahrir Square.

 

Statement on the 28–30 June 2013 Demonstrations

“Shoft Ta7rosh” issued a media statement on 1 July 2013 summarizing the key indicators and observations regarding sexual violence, sexual terrorism, and mob-harassment incidents witnessed around Tahrir Square and Ittihadiya Palace between 28 and 30 June 2013.

Press statement: “Sexual Harassment and Violence Against Women and Girls During the Demonstrations Against Muslim Brotherhood Rule in Egypt, 28–30 June”

“Do not use women’s and girls’ bodies to bury the revolution”

“Shoft Ta7rosh” affirms that, under the rule of President Mohamed Morsi — representing the Muslim Brotherhood — crimes of sexual terrorism and violence were committed against peaceful female protesters participating in the revolutionary movement marking the second anniversary of the January revolution in 2013, amounting to roughly 24 incidents of mob harassment or attempted mob rape, most of which shared common patterns and methods of commission. These were supported in the media by extremist religious channels that described women participating in demonstrations against Muslim Brotherhood rule as prostitutes and “fallen women” working for foreign, non-national interests — including generalized sectarian framing implying that all participating women and girls were Christian, in an attempt to give a sectarian coloring to the revolutionary movement opposing Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt.

The protests held across Egypt from Friday 28 June through the night of 30 June 2013 saw cases of systematic, organized sexual terrorism and sexual violence.

This followed gatherings of extremist Islamist forces who protested and staged sit-ins in support of continued Muslim Brotherhood rule under President Mohamed Morsi al-Ayyat, and who publicly declared they would resort to violence against any attempt to change the ruling regime in Egypt.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders used the recent incidents of sexual terrorism and mob harassment as a pretext to discredit the Egyptian revolution and undermine the efforts of the Tamarod (“Rebel”) movement, and to draw international public attention toward portraying Egypt’s protesters as uncivilized.

In this same context, the area around Tahrir Square saw incidents of sexual violence and mob harassment targeting women and girls amounting to roughly 51 cases, according to data from “Anti-Harassment Force” and the Nazra Institute for Feminist Studies — all characterized by excessive violence and targeting women and girls both alone and in the company of male relatives.

Around Ittihadiya Palace, “Shoft Ta7rosh” coordinated with the Popular Committee for the Peaceful Protection of Protesters — the popular committee responsible for managing the Ittihadiya sit-in — and any attempt at harassment, verbal or otherwise, against women and girls participating in the sit-in and demonstrations was dealt with immediately; the area around Ittihadiya Palace has not, to date, seen any incident of mob harassment or attempted sexual terrorism.

“Shoft Ta7rosh” therefore recommends:

• We call on anti-sexual-violence initiatives and rights organizations concerned with women’s status in Egypt to work to document incidents and survivors’ testimonies of sexual violence and mob harassment, and to incorporate all of this into legal proceedings that could help refer the Morsi regime to international trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity and crimes targeting women in quasi-armed conditions, in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

• “Shoft Ta7rosh” affirms the need to secure demonstrations, squares and sit-ins — especially Tahrir Square — and calls on anyone willing to volunteer with initiatives working against sexual terrorism and mob harassment, such as Anti-Harassment Force, the “Sexual Harassment Map,” “Tahrir Bodyguard,” the “Basma” movement, and “Shoft Ta7rosh,” to help curb and resist these crimes.

• We hold the regime of President Mohamed Morsi al-Ayyat — representing Muslim Brotherhood rule — and the government of Hisham Qandil, along with all extremist religious forces, responsible for the assault on and terrorizing of women and girls and for the injuries inflicted on them in order to deter their participation in peaceful demonstrations rejecting Muslim Brotherhood rule. We stress the need for restraint and warn against using violence against women as an unacceptable political tool for pressuring the Egyptian opposition and the masses of the Egyptian people who reject Muslim Brotherhood rule.

• We call on all women and girls to continue participating and being present in all revolutionary and democratic scenes across Egypt, since this is an integral part of this nation’s future; preventing women from participating and trying to break their will and discredit the revolution is a crime whose perpetrators must be prosecuted and punished.

“Long live the struggle of the Egyptian people … long live the struggle of the Egyptian woman. Long live a free, proud Egypt.” Cairo, 1 July 2013

(The original document also includes the initiative’s own official English-language version of this statement, titled “Do not use women and girls[’] bodies to bury the revolution,” which closely mirrors the Arabic text above; it has not been re-translated here since it is already in English.)

(A table of roughly 24 media outlets that covered the initiative’s activities on 30 June 2013 — including Al Jazeera English, US News, Aswat Masriya/Reuters, Al-Ahram, Vetogate, Youm7, Al-Mal, and others — has been condensed.)

 

Self-Defense Training Camp, Ismailia (18–19 July 2013)

Ahead of the Eid al-Fitr 2013 holiday, a training was organized for the “Shoft Ta7rosh” team on self-defense skills and gender issues, held at a residential training camp in Fayed, Ismailia, on 18–19 July 2013.

 

Eid al-Fitr 2013 Operations Room (8–10 August 2013)

“Shoft Ta7rosh” launched an operations room to monitor and track sexual-violence crimes against women and girls during the Eid al-Fitr holiday (8–10 August 2013), and issued a media statement, in both Arabic and English, outlining its working mechanisms, the field deployment map for volunteers, and its key observations and recommendations for Egyptian society and the state.

Press Statement: For the Safety and Peace of Women and Girls During Eid al-Fitr 2013, “Shoft Ta7rosh” Deploys Across Downtown Cairo

Amid the spread of sexual-violence crimes, sexual terrorism, mob harassment and rape that Egypt has recently witnessed — intensifying alongside political upheaval, mass demonstrations, and official holidays — and building on the initiative’s launch during Eid al-Adha 2012 and everything it monitored and dealt with regarding violations against women and girls simply trying to exercise their right to safe streets and to enjoy their right to leisure, “Shoft Ta7rosh” announces its presence during the three days of Eid al-Fitr 2013 across downtown Cairo, especially in locations with the highest concentration of reports and incidents and in front of cinemas.

“Shoft Ta7rosh” confirms that all volunteers will wear a white T-shirt printed front and back with the initiative’s logo. The initiative stresses that it remains a pressure group concerned with monitoring and documenting sexual-violence crimes against women and girls, raising their awareness of their rights and how to confront these crimes, and providing legal and psychological support to women and girls subjected to any form of sexual violence or sexual terrorism.

Recommendations: – Egyptian families should support girls and women and not blame the girl or woman subjected to harassment, nor let the perpetrator go unaccountable. – Citizens should confront these crimes and work to support women and girls who may face harassment or molestation in public places. – The Egyptian Ministry of Interior must bear full responsibility for providing properly trained forces to handle these crimes without violating human rights or the law, bearing in mind that harassers’ ages can be as young as 8–10, and without blaming girls and women who come forward to report or seek help. – “Shoft Ta7rosh” calls on all women’s organizations and anti-harassment initiatives to participate and be present in the field everywhere to provide safe streets and holidays for women and girls across Egypt. – “Shoft Ta7rosh” affirms its commitment to peacefulness in dealing with all incidents, while recognizing every member’s right to self-defense if their life is under threat. – “Shoft Ta7rosh” stresses that it receives reports via the number 01150118822, the hashtag #ShoftTa7rosh, its Twitter account (@ShoftTa7rosh), or its official Facebook page. – “Shoft Ta7rosh” announces it is accepting new volunteers from now through the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Field map: deployment covered the area from Maspero to Qasr El Nil Bridge, around Tahrir Square, Talaat Harb Street, and in front of Metro, Miami, and Rivoli cinemas — each area assigned to the corresponding police station (Qasr El Nil, Abdeen, or Azbakeya), with volunteer tasks of awareness-raising, monitoring, and intervention.

Cairo, drafted 5 August 2013

Day One Report (8 August 2013)

“Sexual violence against women and girls continues in the downtown area.”

Field patrols began at 12 noon Cairo time, covering the same geographic zones listed above, and continued until 9 pm, with intensified presence in front of cinemas from 7 to 9 pm.

Volunteer presence in harassment hotspots was described as urgently needed, given rising harassment rates and harassers as young as 8–10, as well as the growing brazenness of perpetrators, some of whom openly claim “the woman is the reason” without any accountability.

Selected incidents: – Near Maspero to Qasr El Nil Bridge: two girls were verbally and then physically harassed by five boys; the rescue team intervened. A separate group of boys chasing several girls on the bridge was also handled and the girls escorted to safety. – The operations room received a distress call from a girl in one of the passages of the Anwar Sadat metro station near Tahrir Square; a rescue group escorted her out safely. – In front of Rivoli Cinema: a mob-harassment incident targeting a girl and her friends escalated to one of them being struck; nearby volunteers intervened, with reinforcement from other “Shoft Ta7rosh” teams, to control the situation and get the girls out safely. – In front of the Talaat Harb Mall, the operations room received a distress call from a girl hiding in a well-known sweet shop after being harassed and struck by some boys; the rescue team escorted her out and arranged transport for her. – Screenings at Rivoli, Miami and Metro cinemas — especially the 9 pm showings — saw very heavy crowding and numerous harassment attempts against women walking alone or with male relatives; members organized entry/exit and formed a human cordon with police and some citizens to secure entry and exit for women and families.

Observations: Many women and girls were receptive to awareness materials and to filling out the initiative’s survey on sexual-violence crimes. Volunteers noted cooperation from security forces present in the area, but poor and uncooperative conduct from Metro Cinema’s management, who at times obstructed both the initiative’s and the police’s efforts.

The initiative stressed the need for society as a whole to unite in resisting and combating all crimes of violence against women and girls, especially sexual violence and harassment, which has become an epidemic disrupting the peace of ordinary citizens.

Day Two Report (9 August 2013)

“Children and boys are the main perpetrators of most harassment incidents; downtown is a terrifying harassment hotspot; and the presence of Ahmed El-Sobky at Metro Cinema caused a spike in harassment incidents in front of the cinema.”

For the second day running, “Shoft Ta7rosh” continued raising awareness among women and girls and trying to prevent as many incidents of harassment and assault as possible in downtown Cairo, with volunteer groups active from 1 pm to 9 pm across the same locations (Maspero to Qasr El Nil Bridge, Tahrir Square, the Anwar Sadat metro station, and in front of Metro, Miami and Rivoli cinemas).

While the team was organizing entry and exit in front of Metro Cinema, volunteers were surprised by the arrival of Mr. Ahmed El-Sobky (a well-known film producer/cinema owner), accompanied by several personal bodyguards, who entered the cinema. Ticket sales stopped for nearly an hour because of his arrival, causing citizens to pile up in front of the cinema and resulting in numerous incidents of harassment and assault against women and girls due to the crowding and long wait.

When initiative members tried to persuade the cinema’s management and Mr. El-Sobky not to disrupt screening times and to speed up admitting the public, his personal bodyguards confronted them, and a clash nearly broke out before nearby police intervened; El-Sobky’s bodyguards then retreated back inside the cinema. As initiative members were about to withdraw in protest of Metro Cinema management’s conduct and Mr. El-Sobky’s behavior, a police captain from the Qasr El Nil station asked the initiative’s members to stay and help him manage the crowd and prevent harassment.

Selected incidents: – In front of Rivoli Cinema, volunteers witnessed dozens of young men and boys harassing three girls; the team intervened and escorted the girls to safety. – The rescue team intervened to stop several harassment incidents on Qasr El Nil Bridge and on the Nile Corniche in front of the Maspero building. – Volunteers intervened to stop several men from boarding the women-only car at the Sadat metro station, with the cooperation of the station’s transit police. – Volunteers intervened to protect four girls harassed by dozens of people at the start of Talaat Harb Street.

Observations: – Security forces cooperated with the initiative, but personnel were generally not properly trained to handle such crimes, and in most cases could not intervene to rescue women and girls from violations. – “Shoft Ta7rosh” explicitly disavows the conduct of Mr. Ahmed El-Sobky and Metro Cinema’s management, whose mismanagement and improper handling of both the audience and the initiative’s members led to a rise in harassment and violence that evening. – Rivoli Cinema’s management, by contrast, showed considerable cooperation, agreeing to designate separate entry/exit doors for women and girls given the large crowds. – Most boys who commit sexual-harassment crimes do not realize that what they are doing constitutes harassment, and some openly say they enjoy the holiday by “messing with” girls’ and women’s bodies. – Several other anti-sexual-violence initiatives were also present in the downtown area. – “Shoft Ta7rosh” reaffirms its commitment to peacefulness with all citizens, stresses that awareness-raising about the dangers of sexual violence is its only weapon, and explicitly denies any connection to any group engaged in “harassing the harassers.” The initiative maintains that violence is not the answer to these crimes, and renews its call for urgent legislation criminalizing all forms of violence against women, particularly sexual harassment and sexual terrorism targeting women and girls.

The Death of Shorouk El-Turaby — Urgent Statement (10 August 2013)

The third day of Eid al-Fitr 2013 saw the killing of a girl in Gharbia governorate after she was harassed by the driver of a car. “Shoft Ta7rosh” issued an urgent statement mourning this “second martyr of harassment.”

“Sexual harassment claims the life of a martyr this morning in Gharbia governorate”

“Shoft Ta7rosh” expressed its deep sorrow over the death of a girl who was run over by a young man’s car after he harassed her and her sister while they were walking on the main seaside street in Tanta; the driver ran the girl over with his car and tried to flee, but citizens managed to stop him and block the road in protest at the loss of yet another victim to the plague of sexual harassment and violence spreading throughout the country.

The initiative extended its condolences to the victim’s family, hoping they would be granted patience and would hold firmly to their right to see the perpetrator punished under the law, with a sentence severe enough to deter others from committing similar crimes and violations.

“Shoft Ta7rosh” stressed the need to restore security discipline nationwide, and called on the Cabinet to urgently instruct governors to repair and properly operate street lighting to prevent continued assaults on women and girls in dark areas. It also called on interim President Adly Mansour to urgently issue a law criminalizing all forms of violence against women and girls in Egypt.

Day Three Final Report — 8 to 10 August 2013

“Sexual harassment kills Shorouk El-Turaby on the third day of the holiday — the state must bear responsibility for achieving the safety and security of women and girls, and the Ministry of Interior must properly train its forces.”

(This section repeats, in summary, the account of Shorouk El-Turaby’s death given above, then continues with the day’s incident log:)

Throughout the three days of Eid al-Fitr 2013, “Shoft Ta7rosh” carried out its volunteer work to secure peace and safety for women and girls in downtown Cairo, deployed across the same geographic zones (Maspero to Qasr El Nil Bridge; around Tahrir Square and the Anwar Sadat metro station; in front of Metro, Miami and Rivoli cinemas).

Selected incidents from Day Three: – Three girls around 17 were physically and verbally harassed near the entrance to Qasr El Nil Bridge by boys and young men aged 8–20; the team’s intervention group escorted them to the nearest safe location; notably, a street vendor also helped in the rescue. – Three girls aged 16–17 were physically harassed near the foot of Qasr El Nil Bridge, close to a well-known hotel; the team intervened, provided awareness materials, and escorted them to the Sadat metro station. – A 15-year-old boy threw an empty bottle at girls on the Corniche as a form of harassment; the team intervened to secure the girls. – A group of three visibly anxious and frightened girls said they had been verbally and physically harassed on the metro; they were given the “munajjid needle” self-defense tool and the initiative’s numbers, and one asked to fill out the volunteer sign-up form. – A group of girls aged 16–18 who had been touched on Qasr El Nil Bridge by boys aged 8–10 were given awareness materials; one girl who confronted and screamed at the boys was nearly struck by one of them; bystanders were noted to be passive and did not intervene even as the girls screamed. The rescue group intervened. – A woman around 30 near Rivoli Cinema, after receiving awareness materials, expressed interest in joining the initiative, noting she was a self-defense sports trainer and had herself previously experienced harassment. – Two young men around 20 verbally harassed a girl around 17 at the entrance to Miami Cinema; when the team intervened, they tried to confront the volunteers and were handed over to police. – Inside the Sadat metro station, initiative members organized girls’ boarding of the women-only car and removed any men from it. – In the station’s dim, dark passages, other clusters of boys and young men aged 12–17 were physically harassing girls; members intervened, secured the station’s entrances/exits, and persuaded station management to close the door leading toward the Arab League building given how difficult it was to control the situation there. – For the third day running, Metro Cinema showed no ticket-queue order due to severe crowding; when volunteers arrived they found no police in front of the cinema and had to search for the officers, who were found sitting at a café on a side street; a senior officer was brought to see the situation, after which reinforcements arrived and helped volunteers set up iron barriers to create a safe corridor for women and girls buying tickets.

Recommendations: – “Shoft Ta7rosh” affirms the need for a law criminalizing all forms of sexual violence against women and girls, including escalating penalties and fines, as well as penalties stripping harassers of certain social rights such as eligibility for government jobs and social insurance. – The initiative renews its call for a national conference to address mechanisms for eliminating sexual-violence crimes against women and girls in Egypt, involving relevant rights organizations, civil-society institutions and anti-harassment initiatives, education experts, psychiatric experts, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Information, and Muslim and Christian religious leaders, to agree on a state-led national action plan with everyone’s cooperation. – “Shoft Ta7rosh” calls on all media outlets to avoid negative and stereotypical portrayals of women and girls, to avoid commodifying women, and to work on raising awareness of the dangers of sexual violence and publicizing facts about these crimes without harming or violating the privacy of survivors. – The initiative acknowledges that the Egyptian Ministry of Interior showed notable cooperation during the three days of the holiday, though it notes that personnel along the Nile Corniche were not always equal to their responsibilities and were unable to intervene to rescue women and girls from sexual-violence crimes due to inadequate training. – “Shoft Ta7rosh” calls on the Ministry of Interior to publish the photo and full details of the man who killed Shorouk El-Turaby by running her over in Tanta, as a warning to anyone who violates the right to life.

Cairo, 10 August 2013, 11:00 pm

 

Statement on Rising Violence Against Women (12 August 2013)

On 12 August 2013, “Shoft Ta7rosh” issued a closing report on the violence practiced against women and girls in Egypt and the responsibility of state institutions to eliminate these unacceptable phenomena.

“Violence Against Women, and the Absence of the State’s Role”

Cairo, 12 August 2013

For nearly two years, rates of violence against women and girls have continued to climb, reaching the point of women being openly killed in Egypt’s streets, in addition to incidents of mob rape and sexual terrorism against women and girls — especially amid the political upheaval, demonstrations and sit-ins Egypt has witnessed since the outbreak of the 25 January 2011 revolution to the present.

Sexual harassment is a form of violence practiced constantly against women and girls, starting from a very young age and affecting women of all ages (8 years old to over 60), which confirms that age is not a determining factor in who is targeted. Some holding regressive, conservative views try to shift responsibility onto women and girls themselves for being subjected to sexual violence, claiming that women provoke men into harassing them — an argument refuted by statistics and documented incidents confirming that most women and girls subjected to sexual violence, from verbal harassment to indecent assault and rape, are veiled; documentation of numerous incidents has also confirmed that even fully veiled (niqab-wearing) women and girls have been subjected to sexual violence — demonstrating that perpetrators of these violations have simply made harassment part of their daily behavior, a persistent habit that peaks during social occasions, official holidays, and in public parks and recreational areas.

Downtown Cairo is considered one of the most significant harassment hotspots, where hundreds of incidents of various forms of violence against women and girls have been recorded, including cases where violence was inflicted on women and girls even while accompanied by male relatives.

Harassment has claimed martyrs: In September 2012, violence against women and girls took an even more dangerous turn when a girl in the streets of Assiut, Upper Egypt, was verbally harassed by a young man on a motorcycle; when she confronted him about it, he shot and killed her. The victim’s family in Assiut pursued the case legally, supported by several Egyptian rights organizations providing legal support, and the killer was sentenced to life imprisonment. On the third day of Eid al-Fitr 2013, in Gharbia governorate, came the news of the killing of Shorouk El-Turaby, run over and killed by the driver of a car after he harassed her. Although the Ministry of Interior announced his arrest that same evening (10 August 2013), the Tanta Prosecution ordered his release the following day (11 August), citing conflicting witness statements — some confirming the driver had harassed her and struck her with his car when she tried to confront him, others claiming the girl had simply been crossing the street inattentively when he accidentally hit her. Although Shorouk’s father affirmed that a friend who had been with his daughter confirmed the driver had blocked their path and harassed her, prompting him to file a report with West Tanta’s Prosecutor accusing the driver of assaulting and killing his daughter.

In addition, dozens of women and girls have been subjected to mob rape and sexual terrorism, causing them serious psychological, physical and social harm; survivors of this violence have been unable to obtain their legal rights against the perpetrators due to the legislative framework’s lack of provisions guaranteeing women’s and girls’ bodily safety, as well as the state of lawlessness that effectively treats sexual violence against women and girls as a security-level crime rather than being properly prosecuted.

“Shoft Ta7rosh” therefore affirms that combating all forms of violence against women and girls is not seasonal or incidental — the time has come for a national plan with mechanisms and measures to improve women’s status and establish peace and safety for women and girls across Egypt. The initiative stresses that combating sexual-violence crimes against women and girls requires the effort of every actor in the state, and that action must now be taken on the following:

• The Presidency: Counselor Adly Mansour must integrate gender issues into policy, and the Presidency must ensure fair representation of women in all decision-making positions.

• The Cabinet: The Prime Minister must move urgently to issue a law criminalizing all forms of sexual violence against women and girls, especially sexual harassment, including rehabilitation and reintegration of perpetrators, taking into account the draft legislation already prepared by civil-society organizations. The Cabinet must end the marginalization and exclusion of women from policymaking and decision-making circles, working toward representation proportionate to women’s share of the population, and must allocate a budget to support survivors of harassment and sexual violence for psychological rehabilitation, healthcare and legal needs, expanding the rehabilitation centers providing these services.

• Educational institutions: Human-rights principles and values must be integrated into curricula and pedagogy to spread values of equality and non-discrimination between the sexes and entrench a culture rejecting violence.

• Official and unofficial media: All media outlets (print, visual, audio, electronic) must broadcast awareness content that helps reduce the spread of sexual-violence crimes against women and girls through programming, drama and talk shows, with a media code of honor guaranteeing non-negative coverage, avoiding stereotyping of women and men, ending the commodification of women, and respecting the privacy of women and girl survivors who do not wish their data or images to be shown in the media, to protect their social rights and avoid social stigma.

• The Egyptian Ministry of Interior: Must accept the changes Egypt has undergone since the 25 January revolution, set a timeline for restructuring the police force, and in the meantime adopt more effective mechanisms for restoring security in the current period; it must retrain its regular forces and all ranks to be able to handle sexual-violence crimes, which have become one of the most widespread crimes with most perpetrators escaping punishment. The ministry must recognize its current inability to prevent such crimes and its lack of adequate know-how in confrontation, intervention and rescue, despite having established a unit within the ministry to follow up on crimes of violence against women — this unit’s capacity must be built up and local/international expertise transferred to its staff, in order to curb these crimes and provide safe streets for women and girls. Strict instructions must also be issued to all police stations nationwide to treat harassment and sexual-violence reports with due respect, not dismiss them, maintain confidentiality, and avoid any exceptional measures that violate human rights or the dignity of complainants, such as virginity tests and similar undisciplined practices. “Shoft Ta7rosh” notes it had previously stated that the ministry cooperated with it during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, allowing volunteers to work in the field without harassment from officers or personnel, unlike in the past.

• Political parties: Must bear their moral responsibility to stop political exploitation and calling on women and girls to join major demonstrations without any security or precautionary measures from the organizers, and must completely stop hiring any groups to carry out security/inspection functions at demonstrations, as happened during the Tahrir Square sit-in in December 2012 and January 2013, which resulted in violations against women and girls due to the lack of serious protection and laxity in safeguarding female protesters.

• Volunteers with anti-harassment initiatives: “You have taken on an enormous responsibility, and we must all continue resisting all crimes of sexual violence and sexual terrorism targeting women and girls in Egypt. Some of you have been injured or struck while intervening to rescue a girl or woman, and among the volunteers are women who know full well they may themselves be violated, yet continue to resist harassment regardless. All of you, women and men alike, are filling the role of an absent, negligent state. We must all unite our efforts, coordinate, consult, and cooperate continuously toward a society free of harassment and violence against women and girls. Stay well, and remain a treasure for your homeland.”

Report: 1 September – 31 October 2013

“Shoft Ta7rosh” announced it was opening volunteer applications for anyone wishing to join its various activities, according to the following terms:

• Fill out the volunteer application form via the provided link.

• After the data is reviewed, contact will be made within 60 days of submitting the application.

• Contact will be made to schedule a personal interview.

• Applicants will be introduced to the initiative and to the volunteer tasks corresponding to the activity they selected on the form.

General notes: (1) The initiative apologized for delays in responding to those who had already filled out the volunteer form, promising to follow up during November and December at the level of the governorates. (2) Every volunteer signs the initiative’s code of conduct. (3) Every volunteer can set their own volunteering schedule around their free time, without affecting their private life or social obligations. (4) The initiative commits to treating every volunteer with full respect and moral recognition, providing training and preparation, and safeguarding every volunteer’s personal safety.

“Together for a society free of #harassment”

• A new branch of the initiative and intake of new volunteers was launched in Beheira governorate on Sunday, 8 September 2013.

• A new branch was launched in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate on Tuesday, 17 September 2013.

#MetroWithoutHarassment Campaign

“Shoft Ta7rosh” also called for launching a campaign at the Al-Shuhada metro station (formerly Ramses) under the name “#MetroWithoutHarassment,” calling for members to go out and engage directly with metro passengers through awareness-raising and distributing the initiative’s posters and materials.

Press statement, Cairo, 15 September 2013 — “#MetroWithoutHarassment”: The initiative announced a field awareness campaign targeting metro passengers of both sexes on the need to combat sexual-harassment crimes, and to encourage men and young men not to remain passive but to support women and girls who are harassed — as well as raising men’s awareness of the need to respect the law and not ride in the train cars designated for women. The initiative announced it would be present on Thursday, 19 September 2013, from 6 to 8 pm at Al-Shuhada (Ramses) metro station to carry out awareness activities, encourage women and girls to report harassment incidents, explain the legal procedures to follow, how police reports are filed, and introduce women and girls to counseling and legal/psychological support centers.

“Together for a society free of #harassment and sexual violence — Participate / Support / Share.”

(A table of roughly 23 media outlets covering the #MetroWithoutHarassment campaign — including Aswat Masriya/Reuters, Vetogate, Al-Fagr, Horytna Radio, Copts United, Al-Gomhuria, Al-Shorouk, Youm7, Al-Dhiaa Channel, and Al-Badil — has been condensed.)

“The Road Is for You and Her — No to Harassment” Campaign

“Shoft Ta7rosh” also called for launching another campaign titled “The road is for you and her — don’t harass her,” on Thursday, 3 October 2013, held above the 6th of October Bridge, spanning the area from Abdel Moneim Riad to Zamalek on the bridge.

Statement: The initiative announced it would form a human chain above the 6th of October Bridge, from Abdel Moneim Riad Square to the Zamalek end, from 6 to 8 pm on Thursday, 3 October 2013. The activity aimed to warn men and young men driving cars and other vehicles against committing sexual-harassment crimes against women and girls, whether driving themselves or as passengers — as well as delivering awareness messages to women and girls who drive or who face harassment from drivers of private or public vehicles on how to confront and resist them.

“Shoft Ta7rosh” welcomed everyone’s participation and appealed to traffic authorities to facilitate the initiative’s work during the activity and not to obstruct its members. The initiative committed to not disrupting traffic flow on the bridge and to staying on the pedestrian walkway on both sides of the bridge without blocking the road.

Cairo, 29 September 2013

(A table of media links covering this activity, including Aswat Masriya/Reuters, has been condensed.)

 

Eid al-Adha 2013 Operations (13–18 October 2013)

The initiative announced that its “Safety Car” service — used in cases of mob harassment and sexual terrorism, first adopted as a support tool since the Sham El Nessim (spring holiday) 2013 operations — would again be deployed during Eid al-Adha 2013. All members wore a grey T-shirt with a red collar bearing the initiative’s logo front and back.

Field deployment, with “Safety Car” coverage noted per location: In front of Miami Cinema (Talaat Harb St.) – yes; in front of Metro Cinema (Talaat Harb St.) – yes; in front of Rivoli Cinema (26th of July St.) – no; around Tahrir Square – yes; around Abdel Moneim Riad Square – no; from the Maspero building to Qasr El Nil Bridge – yes.

Message to Egypt’s Filmmakers and Cinema Industry (first day of Eid al-Adha 2013, 15 October)

“A message from ‘Shoft Ta7rosh’ to Egypt’s filmmakers and cinema industry”

With the arrival of a new Eid al-Adha comes the most important distribution season for Egyptian film, when cinemas fill with new releases and large audiences that never disappoint producers — making this the most profitable season of the year, without competition.

Eid films have become confined to a single genre — comedy — and over time all doors have closed to distributing films of other genres during this season, not only because comedy is commercially successful but also because producers and distributors monopolize the cinemas: the producer is often also the distributor and the cinema owner, leaving the choice of what plays in the hands of just a few people.

We have, unfortunately, noticed in recent years how poorly filmmakers portray female characters in most Eid films — indeed, one of the most prominent features of these films is mocking female characters’ bodies, normalizing harassment of them, and justifying physical and verbal violence and discrimination against them, all through a supposedly light comedic framing that filmmakers seem to believe is harmless. Unfortunately, these are not merely humorous scenes meant to entertain the viewer — they also shift the viewer’s sense of what is acceptable and normal versus what is not. Just as cinema reflects lived reality, reality is also shaped by cinema. Cinema is not merely a tool of entertainment; like the media, it is also capable of shaping, changing, and imposing awareness, convictions, and ways of life on society and viewers.

Over time, what we believe to be unacceptable, degrading, discriminatory and immoral can become, in the eyes of the viewer, ordinary, normal, and funny.

That said, as an initiative working to change societal and governmental awareness toward women’s and girls’ rights — and in particular toward combating and criminalizing harassment — we strongly respect filmmakers’ freedom, and oppose government or popular censorship of any kind, and oppose banning or cutting any part of any film. However, we do firmly stress the need to add an age-rating system for films — a graduated rating, not limited simply to “adults only” — so that entire age groups are not deprived of films appropriate for them.

We believe viewers have the right to choose whatever film they want, however much we may disagree with that film — but filmmakers must bear in mind their responsibility toward children and what they are shown about women and girls, especially given the ongoing, disastrous situation women and girls in this country still face daily: sexual violation, domestic violence, oppression, and discrimination in public and private life.

We urge producers and distributors to make room for films of other genres during the Eid season and to leave viewers with genuine freedom of choice — in this we see both respect for the audience and the flourishing of cinema and art.

 

Day One Report — Eid al-Adha 2013 (13 October 2013, 11:30 pm)

The final results for Day One of the “Fighters Against Harassment” campaign show that citizens’ behavior was affected by the country’s political conditions, leading many to avoid going out on the first day of Eid al-Adha 2013 due to a general lack of a sense of safety and public order — resulting in a sharp decrease in sexual-violence incidents targeting women and girls, which tend to grow in dense crowds in front of cinemas and in public parks.

Volunteers were in the field from 12 noon to 10 pm Cairo time across the previously announced geographic area, providing awareness, intervention and rescue services in incidents of sexual violence and harassment targeting girls and women in downtown Cairo — with a preliminary count of nine cases, all of whom were rescued and supported.

The early hours of the first day saw a notably calm downtown area from noon to 4 pm, with foot traffic toward cinemas and downtown building up from 4 to 9 pm.

Field observations: – A notable, intensified security presence was observed in front of Metro and Miami cinemas (Talaat Harb St.) and Rivoli Cinema (26th of July St.). – The number of citizens going out and about downtown was noticeably lower than during Eid al-Adha 2012 and Eid al-Fitr 2013. – Coordination was arranged with Metro, Rivoli, and Miami cinema management for cooperation with initiative members stationed in front of the cinemas during screening entry/exit times. – Men’s response to awareness messages exceeded 60%, and women’s/girls’ response exceeded 90%. – In the area from Maspero to Qasr El Nil Bridge along the river, members observed a security presence that did not intervene to stop harassment incidents committed by boys aged 8–12. – Verbal harassment recorded its highest rates downtown on the first day, a clear indication of the influence of the stereotyped lines found in Eid films that normalize insulting and objectifying women.

Day Two Report — Eid al-Adha 2013 (14 October 2013, 11:30 pm)

Day Two results showed a marked increase in the number of citizens out and about compared to Day One, correspondingly increasing incidents of sexual violence and harassment that grow in crowded areas and dense gatherings, especially in front of cinemas. Volunteers were active from noon to 10 pm.

Public engagement: Women’s/girls’ response to awareness campaigns exceeded 93%, while men’s response fell below 30%.

Rescue cases: 23 girls were rescued from immediate violations that day, including a harassment incident against a fully veiled (niqab-wearing) woman, and a case where harassers were detained and the victim was taken to the police station, but — due to the influence of cultural and social norms and the victim’s feeling of shame that what happened to her was disgraceful and might harm her reputation — she withdrew her intent to file a report; she was counseled on her civil rights and responded positively to the awareness effort (Report No. 5/2013, Tahrir Police Post, Qasr El Nil station). The first two mob-harassment incidents of this Eid also occurred: one involving roughly 20 harassers against seven girls, and another with a similar number of harassers against two girls.

(Additional detail, partially in the source but truncated for this translation, describes further incidents that day.)

Ahmed El-Sobky Harassment Incident — Day Two/Three

While members of “Shoft Ta7rosh” were deployed downtown to secure safe routes for women and girls from harassment, an incident occurred at the Metro Cinema ticket window in which a woman was harassed. When members intervened and called security officers, it turned out the harasser was the well-known livestock trader and film producer “Ahmed El-Sobky,” who — exploiting his position as the cinema’s owner — verbally abused and insulted the harassed woman in front of initiative members and in view of the security officer, who rebuked him, saying: “You can’t say that in front of me — at least respect my presence.” In response, Mr. El-Sobky cursed at the officer and at the entire Ministry of Interior using vulgar language, and used his personal bodyguards to expel “Shoft Ta7rosh” members from the entrances and vicinity of Metro Cinema.

In light of this regrettable conduct, the initiative wished to clarify: It filed a police report on the incident (Report No. 6, Personal Status, Tahrir Police Post, Qasr El Nil station). It affirmed it would continue securing the downtown area according to its operations map, including areas under the harasser’s influence. It stated it would not negotiate or concede any of its legal rights that had been violated in front of security officers, regardless of any inducements or threats, and warned against any assault on the safety of initiative members by the harasser’s associates, or any attempt to frame members with fabricated charges — as the harasser’s lawyers had threatened, saying it would become “one report against another” — or any use of influence to tamper with report contents or pressure junior officers.

Day Three Report — Eid al-Adha 2013 (17 October 2013, 11:00 pm)

Day Three results again showed a marked increase in the number of citizens out and about compared to Days One and Two, correspondingly increasing incidents of sexual violence and harassment in crowded areas, especially in front of cinemas — the most notable incident being the filing of a police report against producer Ahmed El-Sobky on a charge of harassing a girl at Metro Cinema downtown.

Public engagement: For the third day running, there was a sharp gap between men’s and women’s response to awareness campaigns — women’s/girls’ response reached 95%, while men’s response rose slightly from the previous day to 35%.

Rescue cases: 29 girls were rescued from immediate violations that day, including the incident involving film producer Ahmed El-Sobky, and 10 separate cases where harassers were detained but the survivors all declined to file formal reports for social reasons tied to cultural heritage and negative customs and traditions.

On the Ahmed El-Sobky harassment incident, and the abduction and assault of colleague Abanoub Gamal, a “Shoft Ta7rosh” member:

During the afternoon, while “Shoft Ta7rosh” members were deployed downtown to secure safe routes for women and girls from harassment, a harassment incident against a girl by film producer “Ahmed El-Sobky” occurred, in addition to an incident of verbal abuse, recorded under Report No. 6, Personal Status, Tahrir Police Post, which was then assigned a further case number upon reaching the station’s records office: Misdemeanor Case No. 10279, Qasr El Nil. At the time, the initiative issued a statement to whom it may concern, ending with: “We will not negotiate or concede any of our legal rights that were violated in front of security officers, regardless of any inducements or threats, and we warn against any assault on the safety of initiative members by the harasser’s associates, or attempts to fabricate charges against members so that it becomes ‘report against report,’ as the harasser’s lawyers threatened.”

Later that same day, at around 8 pm, Mr. Ahmed El-Sobky’s response came in a manner that left no room for ambiguity or misunderstanding: he had volunteer monitor/photographer colleague “Abanoub Gamal Kamel” abducted and detained inside the Metro Cinema building, and attempted to forcibly seize his camera; when the colleague held on to his camera, he was beaten inside a small office to the left of the cinema entrance — all because the volunteer had photographed Ahmed El-Sobky at the cinema entrance, proving his presence at the venue on the day he was accused of harassing a woman there.

A security officer intervened to negotiate with Ahmed El-Sobky, securing the release of the detained colleague in exchange for El-Sobky deleting all photos documenting that day’s events. Fearing the fabricated-charges threats made earlier that afternoon following the initiative’s first report, the abducted colleague submitted to this coercion and was released with his camera emptied of its photos.

In light of these events, the initiative wished to clarify: – It filed a new report on the abduction, detention and physical assault of an initiative member, Report No. 8, Personal Status, Tahrir Police Post, Qasr El Nil station. – It apologized to all the women and girls of Egypt for being forced to remove the area under “Ahmed El-Sobky’s” influence from its operations map and to suspend all volunteer activity there, hoping everyone would understand that it and the named individual had become adversarial parties, compromising the independence of its monitoring and rescue operations, and that it did not want its reports to be seen through the lens of a personal dispute over harassment. – It also announced that its technical team had successfully recovered all the photos that had been deleted, including a photo of Mr. “Ahmed El-Sobky” at the entrance to Metro Cinema. – It repeated that it would not negotiate or concede the legal rights of its volunteers regardless of inducements or threats, warned against any assault on members’ safety by the opposing party, and affirmed that attempts to fabricate problems with its members to frame them with charges, so that it becomes “report against report” as the harasser’s lawyers had threatened, would not be tolerated.

Day Four (Final) Report — Eid al-Adha 2013 (18 October 2013, 8:00 pm)

The final results for the four days of the “Fighters Against Harassment” campaign show a sharp drop in the number of citizens out and about compared to Days One, Two, and Three, correspondingly reducing incidents of sexual violence and harassment that grow in crowded areas and dense gatherings, especially in front of cinemas.

Volunteers were in the field from noon to 5 pm on Day Four, providing awareness, intervention and rescue services for incidents of sexual violence and harassment targeting women and girls downtown.

Public engagement across all four days: A sharp and consistent gap was observed between men’s and women’s response to field awareness campaigns — women’s/girls’ response peaked at up to 95% of all women engaged, while men’s response remained consistently low, reaching only around 30% of all men engaged.

Rescue cases from immediate violations across all four days: A total of 65 girls were rescued across the four days, including two mob-harassment incidents and the incident involving producer Ahmed El-Sobky harassing a girl. Day One: 9 cases. Day Two: 23 cases. Day Three: 29 cases. Day Four: 4 cases.

Recommendations of the “Shoft Ta7rosh” team:

5. The Cabinet must urgently consult with women’s organizations to finalize draft legislation criminalizing sexual harassment with escalating penalties, defining the phenomenon, and establishing mechanisms to protect and support survivors of sexual violence.

6. The Ministry of Interior must work hard on restructuring and training police forces, and must immediately activate the role of the department tracking crimes of violence against women, ensuring competent female officers capable of supporting survivors of violence are present at police stations to facilitate filing reports on incidents of sexual violence against women and girls.

7. The Ministry of Education must ease the permits and procedures that currently hinder civil-society efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of sexual violence among students at all educational levels, and should include, in its curriculum-development plan, material teaching human values and rights-based standards that promote equality, tolerance, and rejecting violence.

8. (Repeating the message to filmmakers above:) The initiative strongly respects filmmakers’ freedom and opposes government or popular censorship of any kind or banning/cutting any part of any film, but firmly stresses the need for a graduated age-rating system for films, not limited to “adults only,” so entire age groups are not deprived of age-appropriate films.

9. “Shoft Ta7rosh” calls on all Egyptian women and girls to hold firmly to their right to safe streets and a life free of sexual violence, and calls on them to resist anyone who tries to strip them of their rights, urging Egyptian women and girls to confront harassers by every means available.

 

Press Release: “I Saw Harassment” — Concerning the Increase of Crimes of Violence Against Women

Violence against Women, and the Absence of the Role of the State

Cairo: 12 August 2013

For almost two years, the rate of violence against women and girls has continued to rise steadily, to such a high degree that openly murdering women in Egyptian streets, as well as incidents of gang rape and sexual terrorism directed at women and girls, have become all the more common. In light of Egypt’s political upheaval, the ongoing demonstrations and sit-ins since the start of the revolution on January 25, 2011, heightened levels of sexual assault have become our grim reality.

Sexual harassment is a violent crime constantly committed against women and girls. Girls as young as eight and women over the age of sixty have been victims of it, showing that it is not confined to any one age group. Some people with regressive or conservative views try to place the blame on women for being assaulted, insisting that a woman “drives” a man to harass her — a claim contradicted by statistics and documented cases, which show that women subjected to sexual violence, from verbal harassment through to rape, are frequently veiled or niqab-wearing women. This shows that those who commit these violations have simply made harassment part of their everyday behavior, almost a habit, one that peaks during social occasions, public holidays, and at parks and other public leisure spots.

Downtown Cairo is regarded as one of the main hotspots for harassment, where hundreds of documented incidents of violence against women and girls have taken place, including cases where the violence occurred even while the woman was accompanied by a male relative.

Harassment has claimed its own martyrs. In September 2012, violence against women and girls took an even more dangerous turn when a young woman in the streets of Assiut, in Upper Egypt, was verbally harassed by a young man on a motorcycle; when she confronted him about it, he shot and killed her. The martyr’s family in Assiut pursued the case legally, supported by several Egyptian human-rights organizations that provided legal assistance, and the killer was sentenced to life in prison. On the third day of Eid al-Fitr 2013, in Gharbia governorate, came news of the death of Shorouk El-Torbey, who was run over and killed after being harassed by the driver of the car that struck her. The Ministry of Interior announced the driver’s arrest on the evening of the same day, August 10, 2013, only for the Tanta Prosecution to order his release on August 11, citing conflicting witness statements — some confirming that the driver had harassed her and deliberately ran her over when she tried to stop him, others claiming she had crossed the street inattentively and was struck by accident. Although Shorouk’s father stated that her friend, who had been with his daughter at the time, confirmed that the driver had blocked their path and harassed his daughter, which led him to file a complaint with the West Tanta Prosecutor’s Office accusing the driver of assaulting and killing her.

Dozens of women and girls have also been subjected to gang rape and sexual terror, suffering severe psychological, physical and social harm. Survivors of this violence have been unable to obtain their legal rights from the perpetrators, both because the legislative framework lacks provisions guaranteeing women’s and girls’ physical safety, and because of the general breakdown in security that has allowed these crimes to go largely unpunished.

The “I Saw Harassment” Initiative affirms that resisting all forms of violence against women and girls is not a seasonal or incidental matter; rather, the time has come for a national plan to be put in place — one that includes mechanisms and measures to improve women’s conditions and work toward peace and security for women and girls across Egypt.

The Initiative also affirms that combating crimes of sexual violence against women and girls must involve the efforts of every actor within the state, and stresses that action must now be taken on the following:

The Presidency:

Counselor Adly Mansour must integrate gender issues into his policies, and the Presidency must work to ensure fair representation of women in all decision-making positions.

The Cabinet (Council of Ministers):

The Prime Minister must move quickly to issue a law criminalizing all forms of sexual violence against women and girls, particularly sexual harassment, while also ensuring the rehabilitation and social reintegration of perpetrators, and taking into account the efforts civil-society organizations have made in drafting numerous bills against violence toward women.

We stress that the Cabinet must end the marginalization and exclusion of women from policymaking and from decision-making circles, and work toward fair representation of women in line with their share of the population.

The Cabinet must allocate a budget to support survivors of harassment and sexual assault, covering psychological rehabilitation, healthcare and legal support, and must expand the rehabilitation centers that provide these services.

Educational Institutions:

Human-rights principles and teachings must be integrated into their policies, curricula and educational practices, in order to spread the values of equality, non-discrimination between the sexes, and a culture that rejects violence.

Official and Unofficial Media:

All media outlets — print, visual, audio and electronic — must publish awareness content that helps reduce the spread of sexual-violence crimes against women and girls, through various programs, drama productions and talk shows, and there should be a media code of ethics that ensures fair, non-stereotypical portrayals of women and men, ends the commodification and objectification of women, and respects the privacy of women and girl survivors of violence who do not wish their data or images to be shown in the media, in order to protect their social standing and spare them from being stigmatized by society.

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior:

It must accept the changes Egypt has undergone since the January 25 Revolution, and work now toward a timeline for restructuring the police apparatus. At the same time, the Ministry must adopt more effective mechanisms to restore security in the current period, and retrain its regular forces and all personnel and ranks so they are able to handle sexual-violence crimes, which have become a source of deep public concern, are among the most widespread crimes, and whose perpetrators mostly escape punishment. The Ministry must recognize its inability to prevent these kinds of crimes and its insufficient knowledge of how to confront, intervene in and rescue victims from them, despite having established a unit within the Ministry to monitor crimes of violence against women. This unit’s capacity must be built up, and local and international expertise must be transferred to its staff, in order to curb the spread of these crimes and provide safer streets for women and girls. Strict instructions must also be issued to all police departments and stations across Egypt to treat those reporting incidents of harassment and sexual violence with the respect they are due, not to dismiss such reports, to preserve the confidentiality of victims’ data and not disclose it, and to firmly prohibit any exceptional measures that would violate human rights and undermine the dignity of those reporting — such as virginity tests and similar unregulated practices. The “I Saw Harassment” Initiative stresses, as it has previously stated, that the Ministry cooperated with it during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, and that this cooperation resulted in volunteers being allowed to work in the field without any harassment from officers or personnel, unlike what had happened before.

Political Parties:

They must bear moral responsibility for putting an end to political manipulation and to calling on women and girls to join mass demonstrations without any security or precautionary measures being taken by the organizers of these protests. These parties must also stop entirely, and immediately, hiring groups to carry out security and search duties at protests, as happened during the Tahrir Square sit-in of December 2012 and January 2013, and the violations against women and girls that resulted from the lack of serious security and the laxity in protecting protesters.

Volunteers of Anti-Harassment Initiatives:

You have taken on an enormous responsibility, and all of us must continue to resist the crimes of sexual violence and terror targeting women and girls in Egypt. Some of you have been wounded, beaten or injured while intervening to rescue a girl or a woman, and among the volunteers are women and girls who take part in rescuing other girls, fully aware that they themselves may be assaulted in the process — yet they continue to resist harassment regardless. All of you, women and men alike, are playing the role of the absent, negligent state.

All of us must unite our efforts, coordinate, consult and cooperate at all times, for the sake of a society free of harassment and violence against women and girls.

May you remain well, and remain a source of pride for your homeland.

Media Coverage of the “I Saw Harassment” Initiative

Links to news stories and media reports covering the Initiative’s activities during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, 2013 (a representative sample; outlet names translated, links unchanged):

1	Mada Masr (English)	madamasr.com — “Initiative calls for harsher punishments after woman run over by harasser”
2	Correspondents.org (English)	News item on the initiative
3	Correspondents.org (Arabic)	News item on the initiative
4	Al-Gomhuria Online	News item on the initiative
5	MBC1	“Egyptian initiatives against harassment — will they succeed where the law has failed?”
6	Daily News Egypt	“‘I saw harassment’: Eid patrols show worrying trends in a national problem”
7	Al-Masry Al-Youm	News item on the initiative
8	CBC Channel (part 1)	Video segment
9	CBC Channel (part 2)	Video segment
10	Al-Shorouk newspaper	News item on the initiative
11	Sky News Arabia	“Egypt: harassers in the land of civilization”
12	Daily News Egypt	“Suspect in sexual harassment case released”
13	Aswat Masriya	News item on the initiative
14	Al-Manshour website	News item on the initiative
15	Al-Gomhuria Online	News item on the initiative
16	Al-Hiwar Al-Mutamaddin	News item on the initiative
17	Elaph	News item on the initiative
18	Al-Watan newspaper	News item on the initiative
19	Al-Dostor newspaper	“A new sexual-harasser identified”
20	Al-Hiwar Al-Mutamaddin	News item on the initiative
21	Ona News Agency	News item on the initiative
22	Al-Shorouk newspaper	News item on the initiative
23	Aswat Masriya (English)	News item on the initiative
24	Al-Shorouk newspaper	News item on the initiative
25	Daily News Egypt	“Victim of harassment killed in Tanta”
26	Masrawy	News item on the initiative
27	Youm7	News item on the initiative
28	On TV	“Third day of Eid” segment
29	On TV	“Second day of Eid” segment
30-31	Al-Masry Al-Youm Today	News item on the initiative
32	Youm7	News item on the initiative
33	Aswat Masriya	News item on the initiative
34	Al-Gomhuria Online	News item on the initiative
35	Youm7	News item on the initiative
36	Ahram Gate	News item on the initiative
37	Youm7	News item on the initiative
38	Mobtada website	“‘I saw harassment’ monitors the harassed on the roads of Cairo”

Report of the “I Saw Harassment” Initiative — September 1 to October 31, 2013

The “I Saw Harassment” Initiative announced that it was opening volunteer registration for men and women wishing to join and take part in the Initiative’s various activities, in accordance with the following terms and rules:

The “I Saw Harassment” Initiative announces that it is opening volunteer registration for anyone wishing to join the Initiative and take an active part in the working groups and campaigns it launches.

– Fill out the volunteer application form via the link provided below.

– Applicants will be contacted after their data has been reviewed, within 60 days at most of submitting the application.

– Applicants will be contacted to arrange a personal interview.

– Applicants will then be introduced to the Initiative and to the volunteer duties involved, according to the activity they selected on the application form.

General notes:

First: We apologize for the delay in responding to those who already submitted the volunteer form. They will be contacted during November and December, across all governorates.

Second: Every volunteer signs the Initiative’s own code of conduct.

Third: Every volunteer may set their volunteering hours according to their free time, without it affecting their personal life or social commitments.

Fourth: The Initiative commits to treating every volunteer with full respect and moral appreciation, providing training and preparation, and safeguarding the personal safety of every volunteer.

Together for a society free of #harassment

A branch of the Initiative was launched, welcoming new volunteers, in Beheira governorate on Sunday, September 8, 2013.

A branch of the Initiative was launched, welcoming new volunteers, in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate on Tuesday, September 17, 2013.

The Initiative also called for launching a campaign at Al-Shohada metro station (formerly Ramses) under the name #Metro_Without_Harassment, inviting the public to take part on the ground with metro riders through awareness-raising and by distributing the Initiative’s posters and printed materials.

Press Release: “I Saw Harassment”

Cairo: September 15, 2013

#Metro_Without_Harassment

The Initiative announces that it is carrying out a field awareness campaign aimed at metro riders of both sexes on the need to oppose sexual-harassment crimes, and to encourage men and young men not to remain passive but to support women and girls who are harassed.

It also aims to make men aware of the need to respect the law and not to ride in the metro cars designated for women and girls.

The Initiative also announces that it will be present on Thursday, September 19, 2013, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, at Al-Shohada metro station (Ramses), to carry out awareness work, encourage women and girls to report incidents of sexual harassment, inform them of the legal steps that should be taken, and explain how to file police reports at police stations, as well as introduce them to counselling and legal/psychological support centers.

Together for a society free of #harassment and sexual violence

Participate. Support. Share.

Selected links showing positive media engagement with the #Metro_Without_Harassment campaign launched by “I Saw Harassment”:

1	“‘I Saw Harassment’ launches campaign against harassers on the metro” (Reuters)	Aswat Masriya
2	“Next Thursday: ‘I Saw Harassment’ launches new awareness campaign for metro riders”	Ona News Agency
3	“Metro without harassment: the latest campaign from ‘I Saw Harassment'”	Al-Gomhuria Online
4	“Metro without harassment: a new campaign”	Al-Watan newspaper
5	“#IsawHarassment calls for people to join it Thursday”	Vetogate
6	“‘I Saw Harassment’ launches campaign to raise awareness against violence and harassment”	Horytna Radio
7	“Next Thursday: ‘I Saw Harassment’ to be present on the metro to confront harassment”	Al-Fagr
8	“#IsawHarassment calls on women and girls to confront harassment via #Metro_Without_Harassment”	Al-Mal newspaper
9	“‘I Saw Harassment’: fight the harasser with pepper spray and an upholstery needle”	Al-Gomhuria Online
10	“Thursday: metro without harassment, a society free of sexual violence”	Masrawy
11	Photo album of preparations for the campaign	Facebook
12	“‘I Saw Harassment’ organizes campaign for metro riders against harassment”	Youm7
13	“Your Day is Happy” program segment on the campaign	YouTube
14	“In pictures: ‘metro without harassment’ campaign begins”	Vetogate
15	“In pictures: metro-without-harassment campaign at Al-Shohada station”	Al-Fagr
16	“‘Metro without harassment’ campaign begins”	Horytna Radio
17	Photo album of the campaign	Facebook
18	“On video: ‘I Saw Harassment’ on the metro”	Copts United (YouTube)
19	“‘I Saw Harassment’ begins its latest campaign on the metro”	Al-Gomhuria Online
20	“‘Metro without harassment’ documents the suffering of young women”	Al-Shorouk
21	“In pictures: ‘metro without harassment’ campaign to raise awareness among girls on public transport”	Youm7
22	“Egypt without harassment”	Al-Diyaa Channel (YouTube)
23	“‘I Saw Harassment’: awareness before punishment”	Al-Badil

The Initiative also called for launching another campaign titled “The Road Is Yours and Hers, No to Harassment” on Thursday, October 3, 2013. The event took place on the 6th of October Bridge, in the area stretching from Abdel Moneim Riad Square to Zamalek.

“The Road Is Yours and Hers, Don’t You Dare Harass Her”

The Initiative announces that it will form a human chain on the 6th of October Bridge, spanning from Abdel Moneim Riad Square to the Zamalek end of the bridge.

The event will run from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Thursday, October 3, 2013.

It aims to warn men and young men driving cars or other vehicles against committing sexual harassment against women and girls, whether the women are driving their own cars or on foot.

It also aims to deliver awareness messages to women and girls generally — whether they drive or are subjected to harassment by private drivers or public-transport drivers — on how to confront and stand up to harassers.

The Initiative welcomes everyone’s participation, and appeals to the Traffic Authority to facilitate its work during the event and not to place restrictions on its members.

– The Initiative commits not to obstruct traffic on the October Bridge within the event’s area (from Abdel Moneim Riad Square to the Zamalek end).

– The Initiative commits to standing on the pedestrian sidewalks on both sides of the bridge, without obstructing the road or traffic.

Together for a society free of harassment

Cairo: September 29, 2013

1	“Human chain on the October Bridge next Thursday to confront harassment” (Reuters)	Aswat Masriya
2	“‘I Saw Harassment’ organizes a human chain on the October Bridge next Thursday”	Al-Fagr
3	“Next Thursday: ‘I Saw Harassment’ organizes human chain on 6th of October [Bridge]”	Al-Badil
4	“‘I Saw Harassment’ organizes human chain on the 6th of October Bridge next Thursday”	Horytna Radio
5	“‘I Saw Harassment’ organizes human chain next Thursday”	Vetogate
6	“Human chain in Egypt next Thursday to confront harassment”	Future TV
7	“Human chain on October Bridge against harassment”	Ona News Agency
8	“‘The Road Is Yours and Hers’: human chain against harassment on October Bridge next Thursday”	Al-Masry Al-Youm
9	“October Bridge has a date with the ‘road is yours and hers’ chain!”	Wogouh Okhra magazine
10	“Human chain against harassment on October Bridge”	Youm7
11	“Today: human chains to warn men against harassing women”	Al-Gomhuria Online
12	Photo album of preparations	Facebook
13	“On video: The Road Is Yours and Hers”	Al-Masry Al-Youm
14	Photo album of the event	Facebook
15	“Young women confront wealthy harassers with ‘your car is for transport, not for harassing girls'” (video)	Al-Journal website
16	“‘I Saw Harassment’ youth group rallies in Cairo roadside calling for the community to monitor harassment cases”	Demotix
17	“Egyptian youth combat sexual harassment”	Al-Shorfa
18	“No to harassment from atop October Bridge: The Road Is Yours and Hers”	Al-Watan
19	“‘Road Is Yours and Hers’ chain raises voices against harassment on 6th of October Bridge — in pictures”	Wogouh Okhra
20	“We document, on video, the ‘I Saw Harassment’ stand atop 6th of October Bridge”	Al-Fagr
21	“In pictures: ‘I Saw Harassment’ stand atop 6th of October Bridge”	Al-Fagr
22	“Egypt — the ‘I Saw Harassment’ campaign”	Sky News Arabia

The Initiative also prepared for the Eid al-Adha holiday of 2013, drawing up its work plan and the geographic area of its presence downtown, to carry out awareness-raising, documentation and monitoring, as well as prepare its intervention and rescue teams. The Eid al-Adha campaign was named “#Warriors_Against_Harassment.”

Press Release: “I Saw Harassment”

Cairo, October 11, 2013

Warriors Against Harassment — For Safe Holidays for Women and Girls in Egypt

A year ago, the “I Saw Harassment” Initiative was launched as a pressure group aiming to curb the spread of sexual harassment and violence against women and girls in Egypt. From Eid al-Adha 2012 through Eid al-Adha 2013, the Initiative has worked hard to reach root solutions to help prevent this endemic crime — sexual harassment — by pressuring and confronting policymakers, whether during the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood or during the transitional period the country has gone through since June 30, 2013.

As of this writing, the Initiative continues working with all its strength to make streets and cities safe for women and girls, free of harassment and sexual violence. Throughout the year, the Initiative’s team has traveled to various Egyptian governorates and cities to raise awareness of the dangers of this crime and ways to resist it, and to encourage women and girls to confront and hold accountable those who commit it.

The Initiative therefore affirms that it will continue combating, monitoring and documenting sexual-harassment crimes against women and girls, and will work to raise awareness and spread the values of equality and rejection of violence, during the four days of Eid al-Adha, from Tuesday, October 15 through Friday, October 18, 2013.

We stress that we do not treat these crimes as seasonal; combating sexual violence has become a danger threatening every Egyptian woman and girl, and it must be confronted at all times and in every place.

We continue to demand a law with escalating penalties that criminalizes all forms of violence against women, defines the crime of sexual harassment, and sets deterrent penalties for perpetrators, whether in public transport, the workplace, or within the family.

We continue to affirm that those who commit sexual-harassment crimes are sick individuals who must be punished under the law and psychologically rehabilitated.

We continue to call for retraining Egypt’s police force so it is qualified to deal with women and girls reporting incidents of violence and sexual harassment.

We continue to call for a national conference bringing together representatives of the Presidency, the Cabinet, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior, education experts, psychologists, sociologists and psychiatrists, to draw up a comprehensive national plan, implemented with the participation of women’s organizations and anti-harassment movements.

We continue to believe in equality, justice, freedom and citizenship for all women and men alike, without discrimination, marginalization or exclusion.

We continue to work and strive for a society free of harassment.

Field Map for Eid al-Adha 2013

The Initiative announces its presence on the ground throughout the four days of Eid al-Adha 2013, working from noon to 10:00 pm daily.

The geographic coverage includes the main hotspots identified during Eid al-Adha 2012 and Eid al-Fitr 2013, where indicators of sexual violence against women and girls were highest.

The Initiative also confirms it is providing a “safety car” service during the Eid al-Adha 2013 holiday. The safety car is one of the tools used in cases of mob harassment and sexual terror, and has supported the field team since last spring’s Sham El-Nessim holiday.

– All Initiative members wear a grey T-shirt bearing the Initiative’s logo on front and back, with a red collar.

1	In front of Miami Cinema – Talaat Harb Street	Yes
2	In front of Metro Cinema – Talaat Harb Street	Yes
3	In front of Rivoli Cinema – 26th of July Street	No
4	Around Tahrir Square	Yes
5	Around Abdel Moneim Riad Square	No
6	From the Maspero building to Qasr El-Nil Bridge	Yes

On the first day of Eid al-Adha 2013, the Initiative released this year’s message, addressed to Egypt’s filmmakers and cinema industry:

Message from “I Saw Harassment” to Egypt’s Filmmakers and Cinema Industry

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

With each new Eid al-Adha comes the most important release season for Egyptian film production. Cinemas fill with new releases and large audiences that never disappoint producers, making this the most profitable season of the year, without rival.

Eid films have narrowed to a single genre — comedy — and over time every opportunity to release films of other genres during this season has been shut out. This is not only because of comedy’s commercial success, but also because producers and distributors monopolize the cinemas themselves: the producer is also the distributor and the cinema owner, putting the choice in the hands of only a few people.

To our great regret, we have noticed in recent years that filmmakers mishandle women characters in most Eid films. One of the most prominent features of these films is the mockery of women’s bodies, the normalizing of harassment against them, and the justification of physical and verbal violence and discrimination toward them — all set within a supposedly light comic frame that filmmakers consider harmless. Unfortunately these are not merely humorous scenes meant to entertain; they also shift the viewer’s sense of what is acceptable and ordinary versus what is not. Just as cinema reflects lived reality, reality is also shaped by cinema. Cinema is not merely entertainment; like the media, it is capable of forming, changing and imposing awareness, convictions and ways of life on society and viewers.

Over time, what we consider unacceptable, degrading, discriminatory and unethical becomes, to the viewer, ordinary, normal and funny.

And yet,

as an initiative working to change societal and governmental awareness of women’s and girls’ rights, and particularly to oppose and criminalize harassment, we strongly respect filmmakers’ freedom. We are against government and popular censorship of any kind, and against banning or cutting any part of any film. But we insist strongly on the need for a graduated age-rating system for films — not limited to a single “adults only” category — so that entire age groups are not denied films suited to them.

We believe viewers have the right to choose whichever film they want, however much we may disagree with it. But filmmakers must bear in mind their responsibility toward children and what they present to them about women and girls — especially given the dire situation women and girls continue to face daily in this country: sexual violation, domestic violence, persecution and discrimination in both public and private life.

We urge producers and distributors to give other genres of film a chance to be shown during Eid, and to leave viewers completely free to choose — in this we see both respect for the viewer and the flourishing of cinema and art.

The Initiative also issued a detailed report on the main incidents and observations, and on the number of cases it handled — whether through rescue from immediate assault or through awareness-raising.

Day One of Eid al-Adha 2013 — Field Report

Cairo: October 13, 2013 — 11:30 pm

The final results of the first day of the “Warriors Against Harassment” campaign indicate that the public was affected by the country’s political conditions, which led many people to avoid going out on the first day of Eid al-Adha 2013, as citizens generally did not feel a sense of safety and public order. This led to a sharp decrease in incidents of sexual violence targeting women and girls, which tend to grow in dense crowds in front of cinemas and in public parks.

Volunteers were present in the field from noon until 10:00 pm Cairo time within the announced area, and began providing awareness, intervention and rescue services for incidents of sexual violence and harassment targeting girls and women downtown. According to a preliminary count, nine cases were recorded, and all victims were rescued and supported.

The early hours of the day saw noticeable calm downtown from noon to 4:00 pm, after which crowds began arriving at cinemas and downtown from 4:00 pm until 9:00 pm.

Field observations from the operations room, Day One:

– The team observed a noticeable, intensive security presence in front of Metro and Miami cinemas on Talaat Harb Street, and in front of Rivoli Cinema on 26th of July Street.

– The number of citizens out and about downtown had noticeably decreased compared with Eid al-Adha 2012 and Eid al-Fitr 2013.

– Coordination was arranged with Metro Cinema’s management, allowing Initiative members to be present outside the cinema to confront harassment during film screening entry and exit times; similar coordination was arranged with Rivoli and Miami cinemas.

– The response rate to the Initiative’s awareness messages was over 60% among men and over 90% among women and girls.

– In the area from the Maspero building to Qasr El-Nil Bridge, security personnel were present but did not intervene to stop harassment carried out by boys between the ages of 8 and 12.

– Verbal harassment reached its highest recorded rate downtown on this first day — a clear indication of the influence of the stereotypical lines found in Eid films, which entrench the humiliation and commodification of women.

Day Two of Eid al-Adha 2013 — Field Report

Cairo: October 14, 2013 — 11:30 pm

The results of the second day indicate a marked increase in the number of citizens compared with the first day, correspondingly raising incidents of sexual violence and harassment, which grow in crowded, dense gatherings, especially around cinemas.

Volunteers were present from noon until 10:00 pm Cairo time, providing awareness, intervention and rescue services for incidents targeting girls and women downtown.

Public engagement with the awareness campaigns:

A sharp disparity was observed between males and females: the response rate among females exceeded 93%, while the response rate among males was below 30%.

Rescue cases for immediate assault:

Today’s tally reached 23 rescue cases, including one case of harassment against a niqab-wearing woman, and one case where the harassers were detained and the victim went with them to the police station; there, owing to cultural and social pressures and the victim’s feeling of shame — believing what happened to her was disgraceful and could damage her reputation — she changed her mind about filing a report. She was counselled about her civil rights and responded positively (Report No. 5 of 2013, Tahrir police point, Qasr El-Nil station). This holiday also saw the first two cases of mob harassment: one involving around 20 harassers against seven girls, the other a similar number of harassers against two girls. There was also one case of physical assault against a woman in her twenties who was with her parents, one case involving a public figure (a well-known singer), and one case carried out by four intoxicated men. The field team intervened directly, rescued all victims and arranged safe exits for them, in addition to handling countless incidents of verbal harassment.

Field observations, Day Two:

· Cinema management bears primary responsibility for today’s assault crimes: the congestion at ticket windows is artificially and deliberately created for commercial reasons, to suggest a massive turnout for the films. It is also tied to financial corruption, with orderly queues deliberately disrupted to fuel a black market in tickets run by unlicensed vendors operating under, and in coordination with, cinema management — the real seller of tickets outside the official windows.

· Cinema management’s responsibility extends further, causing chaotic congestion in surrounding streets through vans stopped mid-road to distribute promotional material, and cars with loudspeakers blaring film soundtracks — alongside total traffic paralysis and frenzied street dancing, in which dancers exploit the holiday mood to invite others to join, sometimes grabbing their hands. All this creates an environment that attracts harassers and motorcyclists who stop to harass under the pretext of holiday dancing.

· As citizens left cinemas, the team observed them trying to cover parts of their bodies with their hands — an indication of exposure to sexually charged material inside and embarrassment at this being noticed. We repeat our call for age-classification regulations for films, without interfering in their content.

Statement to Whom It May Concern — Day Three of Eid al-Adha

Issued Thursday, October 17, 2013 — 6:00 pm, Cairo time

At midday today, while Initiative members were spread across downtown to secure safe routes for women and girls, an incident of harassment against a woman occurred at the ticket window of Metro Cinema. When members intervened and called security officers, it emerged that the harasser was the well-known livestock trader and prominent film producer Ahmed El-Sobky, who used his influence as the cinema’s owner to insult the harassed woman and Initiative members, in full view of the security officer. The officer rebuked him, saying: “You can’t say that in front of me — at least respect my presence.” In response, Mr. El-Sobky cursed at the officer and the entire Ministry of Interior with vulgar language, and had his personal bodyguards forcibly remove Initiative members from the cinema entrances and surrounding area.

Faced with this regrettable conduct, we wish to clarify the following:

We filed a police report on the incident, registered as personal-status report No. 6 at the Tahrir police point, Qasr El-Nil station.

· We will continue securing downtown per our operations map, including areas under the harasser’s influence.

· We will not negotiate or waive our legal rights that were violated in front of security officers, regardless of inducements or threats. We warn against any attack on Initiative members’ safety by the harasser’s hired enforcers, or any attempt to fabricate charges against Initiative members to produce a “report against a report,” as the harasser’s lawyers have threatened, or any use of influence to tamper with the report or pressure junior officers.

Day Three of Eid al-Adha 2013 — Field Report

Cairo: October 17, 2013 — 11:00 pm

The results of the third day indicate a marked increase in citizens compared with the first and second days, correspondingly raising incidents of sexual violence and harassment in crowded gatherings, especially around cinemas. The most notable incident was the filing of a report against producer Ahmed El-Sobky on a charge of harassing a girl at Metro Cinema downtown.

Volunteers were present from noon until 10:00 pm Cairo time, providing awareness, intervention and rescue services for incidents targeting girls and women downtown.

Public engagement with the awareness campaigns:

For the third consecutive day there was a sharp disparity between males and females: female response rose to 95%, while male response rose to over 35%.

Rescue cases for immediate assault:

Today’s tally reached 29 rescue cases, including the harassment case involving film producer Ahmed El-Sobky, and 10 separate cases in which harassers were detained but all survivors waived filing a report for social reasons tied to cultural heritage and negative customs.

On the Ahmed El-Sobky Harassment Incident, and the Abduction and Assault of Our Colleague Abanoub Gamal

At midday today, while Initiative members were spread across downtown to secure safe routes for women and girls, an incident of harassment against a girl by film producer Ahmed El-Sobky occurred, in addition to the earlier cursing incident registered as personal-status report No. 6 at the Tahrir police point, Qasr El-Nil station, which was later assigned a new number upon formal registration — misdemeanor report No. 10279, Qasr El-Nil. At the time, we issued a statement declaring: “We will not negotiate or waive our legal rights that were violated in front of security officers, regardless of inducements or threats. We warn against any attack on Initiative members’ safety by the harasser’s hired enforcers, or any attempt to fabricate charges to produce a report versus a counter-report, as the harasser’s lawyers have threatened.”

Also today, at around 8:00 pm, Mr. El-Sobky’s response came, unambiguous: our volunteer colleague Abanoub Gamal Kamel, who was monitoring and filming, was abducted and detained inside the Metro Cinema building, and an attempt was made to forcibly take his camera. When he held on to it, he was beaten inside a small office beside the cinema entrance — all because he had filmed El-Sobky at the entrance, proving his presence at the cinema on the day he was accused of harassing a woman.

A security officer intervened to negotiate with El-Sobky, securing our colleague’s release in exchange for El-Sobky deleting all photos documenting the day’s events. Fearing the fabricated charges we had been threatened with earlier that day, our colleague gave in to this extortion and was released with his camera emptied of photos.

In light of these events, we wish to clarify the following:

• We filed a new report on the abduction, detention and physical assault of one of our members, registered as personal-status report No. 8, Tahrir police point, Qasr El-Nil station.

• We apologize to all the women and girls of Egypt for being forced to remove the area under Ahmed El-Sobky’s influence from our operations map and suspend our volunteer activity there. We hope everyone understands that he and we have become parties to a dispute, which compromises our independence in monitoring and rescue work, and we do not want our reports placed under any suspicion of being personally motivated.

• We also announce that our technical team has succeeded in recovering all the deleted photos, including the photo of Mr. El-Sobky at the entrance of Metro Cinema.

• We reiterate that we will not negotiate or waive the legal rights of Initiative volunteers, regardless of inducements or threats. We warn against any attack on members’ safety by the other party, and affirm that any attempt to fabricate problems with Initiative members to frame them with false charges, producing “one report versus another,” as the harasser’s lawyers have threatened, will not be tolerated.

Final Report on Eid al-Adha 2013

Issued Friday, October 18, 2013 — 8:00 pm, Cairo time

The final results for the four days of Eid al-Adha indicate a sharp decrease in the number of citizens compared with the first three days, correspondingly reducing incidents of sexual violence and harassment in crowded gatherings, especially around cinemas.

Volunteers were present from noon until 5:00 pm Cairo time, providing awareness, intervention and rescue services for incidents targeting girls and women downtown.

Public engagement with the awareness campaigns over the four days:

Across the four consecutive days we recorded a sharp disparity between males and females: the female response rate rose to as high as 95% at its peak, while the male response rate remained persistently low, reaching only 30%.

Issued by the “I Saw Harassment” Initiative (Shoft Ta7arosh)
Thursday, the third day of Eid al-Adha, 17 October 2013
11:00 PM Cairo Time

I Saw Harassment Report on the Third Day of Eid al-Adha 2013

The results of the third day of the “Warriors Against Harassment” campaign launched by the I Saw Harassment Initiative indicate a noticeable increase in the number of citizens in public spaces compared to the first and second days of Eid. Consequently, incidents of sexual violence and harassment also increased, particularly in crowded areas and cinema venues.

The most prominent incident was the filing of a police report against film producer Ahmed El-Sobky, accusing him of harassing a young woman at Metro Cinema in downtown Cairo.

Field volunteers from the I Saw Harassment Initiative were present from 12:00 noon until 10:00 PM, providing awareness-raising services as well as intervention and rescue support in cases of sexual violence and harassment targeting women and girls in downtown Cairo.

Public Interaction with Awareness Campaigns

For the third consecutive day, a significant difference was observed between males and females in their response to awareness activities. Female engagement reached approximately 95% of women approached, while male engagement increased compared to the second day and reached around 35% of men approached.

Rescue Interventions

A total of 29 rescue interventions were recorded for girls subjected to immediate violations, including the harassment incident involving film producer Ahmed El-Sobky. In 10 additional cases, alleged harassers were detained, but the survivors chose not to file reports due to social and cultural pressures and prevailing negative traditions.

Regarding the Ahmed El-Sobky Incident and the Abduction and Assault of Volunteer Abanoub Gamal

While members of the initiative were deployed in downtown Cairo to help secure safer routes for women and girls, a harassment incident involving Ahmed El-Sobky occurred. A complaint for verbal abuse and insult was also filed and registered at Tahrir Police Point, affiliated with Qasr El-Nil Police Station.

At the time, we issued a statement declaring that we would not negotiate or waive our legal rights, regardless of any intimidation or inducements. We also warned against attacks on initiative members by individuals associated with the accused party or attempts to fabricate charges against volunteers.

Later that evening, around 8:00 PM, Ahmed El-Sobky’s response became clear and unmistakable. Volunteer observer and photographer Abanoub Gamal Kamel was abducted and unlawfully detained inside Metro Cinema. Attempts were made to seize his camera by force, and when he resisted, he was physically assaulted inside a small office near the cinema entrance.

The assault occurred because the volunteer had photographed Ahmed El-Sobky at the cinema entrance, providing evidence of his presence at the venue on the day he was accused of harassment.

A security officer intervened and negotiated Abanoub’s release on the condition that all photographs documenting the day’s events be deleted. Fearing the threats of fabricated charges that had been made earlier, the volunteer complied and was released with an empty camera.

The Initiative Clarifies the Following:

• A new police report was filed regarding the abduction, unlawful detention, and physical assault of one of the initiative’s volunteers.

• We apologize to the women and girls of Egypt for being compelled to suspend operations within areas under Ahmed El-Sobky’s influence. As we have become parties to a direct dispute, our ability to independently monitor and intervene there has been compromised.

• The technical team of the I Saw Harassment Initiative successfully recovered all deleted photographs, including images showing Ahmed El-Sobky present at the entrance of Metro Cinema.

• We reiterate that we will not negotiate or relinquish the legal rights of our volunteers regardless of pressure or threats, and we warn against any attempts to harm initiative members or fabricate charges against them.

 

Issued by the I Saw Harassment Initiative
Friday, the fourth day of Eid al-Adha, 18 October 2013
8:00 PM Cairo Time

Final Report on Eid al-Adha 2013

The final results of the four-day Eid al-Adha campaign indicate a sharp decline in the number of citizens present in public spaces on the fourth day compared with the previous three days. Consequently, incidents of sexual violence and harassment also decreased, particularly in crowded areas and cinema venues.

Volunteers were present from 12:00 noon until 5:00 PM, providing awareness services and intervention support for women and girls subjected to harassment and sexual violence in downtown Cairo.

Public Response During the Four Days of Eid

Throughout the four days, a clear gap remained between male and female engagement with awareness activities. Female participation reached as high as 95%, while male engagement steadily declined to approximately 30%.

Rescue Interventions During the Four Days

A total of 65 rescue interventions were documented, including two incidents of group harassment and the harassment case involving Ahmed El-Sobky.

Breakdown by day:

• Day One: 9 cases
• Day Two: 23 cases
• Day Three: 29 cases
• Day Four: 4 cases

Recommendations of the I Saw Harassment Initiative

First:

The Prime Minister’s Office should urgently consult women’s organizations to develop and adopt legislation criminalizing sexual harassment through escalating penalties, defining the crime clearly, and establishing mechanisms for protecting and supporting survivors.

Second:

The Ministry of Interior should undertake institutional reform and strengthen police capacities. It should activate specialized units addressing violence against women and ensure the presence of qualified female officers capable of supporting survivors and facilitating the reporting of sexual violence cases.

Third:

The Ministry of Education should facilitate access for civil society organizations to schools in order to raise awareness about sexual violence. Educational curricula should also include human rights values, equality, tolerance, and non-violence.

Fourth:

While respecting artistic freedom and opposing censorship, the initiative stresses the importance of introducing a graduated age-classification system for films rather than relying solely on “Adults Only” ratings, which can exclude entire age groups from suitable content.

Fifth:

The initiative calls upon Egyptian women and girls to uphold their right to safe streets and lives free from sexual violence, to resist attempts to deprive them of these rights, and to confront harassers using all available lawful means.

Activities and Statements (October 2013 – February 2014)

28 October 2013

The I Saw Harassment Initiative held a seminar at the Youth Meeting of the Catholic Coptic Community in the Cathedral area of Kobri El-Qobba, Cairo. The seminar discussed the most significant findings documented by the initiative during Eid al-Adha 2013.

 

8 November 2013

In cooperation with the Women’s Parliament and Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development (ACT), the I Saw Harassment Initiative organized a capacity-building training for its team members.

The training covered:

• The concept of sexual harassment.

• Forms and patterns of harassment.

• Intervention mechanisms and ways of supporting survivors of violence.

• Development of awareness-raising messages.

• Designing the initiative’s strategy and work plan for the coming period.

 

13 November 2013

Protest in Front of the Shura Council

The Women’s Parliament, Fouada Watch, and I Saw Harassment announced their participation in a peaceful protest on Wednesday, 13 November 2013, in front of the Shura Council building, where the Committee of Fifty was holding constitutional amendment sessions.

The protest aimed to:

• Defend Egyptian women’s rights.

• Demand the inclusion of women’s concerns and priorities in the draft constitution.

• Advocate for equality between women and men in rights and responsibilities.

The organizers emphasized that this protest was only the first step in a broader advocacy effort directed at members of the Committee of Fifty, who had previously met with women’s organizations and discussed women’s demands but failed to adequately reflect them in the constitutional draft.

Due to what the organizers described as the marginalization and exclusion of women’s legitimate demands, they called upon all women and men to participate and gather in front of the Shura Council building on 13 November 2013 to pressure the committee to include women’s rights and constitutional guarantees of equality.

Long live the struggle of Egyptian women.
Long live the struggle of Egyptians.

 

27 November 2013

The I Saw Harassment Initiative organized a public seminar at the Catholic Patriarchate in Cairo addressing crimes of sexual violence targeting women and girls in Egypt.

 

9 December 2013

The organization “Egyptians Against Corruption” awarded the title of:

“Egyptian Anti-Corruption Warrior of the Year 2013”

jointly to:

• I Saw Harassment Initiative

• OpAntiSH (Operation Anti Sexual Harassment / Assault)

in recognition of their efforts to combat sexual harassment and sexual violence against women and girls in Egypt.

The prize money, amounting to EGP 5,000, was donated by the winners to the family of Omar, the child martyr widely known as “the potato seller.”

 

January 2014

Recruitment of New Volunteers

The I Saw Harassment Initiative announced the acceptance of new volunteers from Cairo and Giza who had completed volunteer application forms during 2013.

The recruitment period ran from 8 January until 31 January 2014.

The initiative also opened registration for new applicants wishing to join and actively participate in its campaigns and activities.

The initiative emphasized that:

• Applicants who had previously registered and not yet received a response would be contacted as soon as possible.

• Every volunteer is required to sign the initiative’s Code of Conduct.

• Volunteers may determine their own participation schedules according to their availability.

• The initiative is committed to respecting all volunteers and providing them with training, support, and safety measures.

The initiative’s slogan remained:

“Together for a society free from harassment.”

 

12 January 2014

Statement on the Killing of a Young Man Who Defended Girls Against Harassment in Assiut

The initiative mourned the death of:

Ebram Awny (24 years old)

who was fatally shot on 10 January 2014.

According to reports, three young men riding a motorcycle harassed girls in the village of Masara, Deirout District, Assiut Governorate.

Villagers intervened and confiscated the motorcycle as a form of community accountability. In response, the harassers opened fire on residents, resulting in Ebram Awny’s death.

The initiative renewed its call on President Adly Mansour to issue urgent legislation criminalizing all forms of violence against women and girls in Egypt and called for protecting the victim’s family from pressure or intimidation.

 

20 January 2014

A Step Forward for the Safety and Security of Women and Girls in Egypt

In cooperation with ACT (Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development), the initiative organized a training workshop for volunteers from Cairo, Giza, and Kafr El-Sheikh.

The training addressed:

• International human rights conventions.

• International agreements concerning women’s rights.

• Development of the initiative’s 2014 action plan.

• Community mobilization skills.

• Understanding violence against women and ways to confront it.

The training was held in Cairo from 24–26 January 2014.

 

27 January 2014

The initiative announced the successful completion of the training program.

The workshop was hosted at the Upper Egypt Association for Education and Development in El-Zaher, Cairo.

Training sessions were delivered by:

• Dr. Azza Kamel, Director of ACT, on women’s rights conventions.

• Lawyer Mahmoud Abdel Fattah, on international human rights law and relevant international agreements ratified by Egypt.

Participants also developed the initiative’s work plan for the first half of 2014.

 

31 January 2014

“We Have the Right to Walk Safely in the Streets – No to Harassment” (Campaign 1)

The initiative launched a new public awareness campaign on sexual harassment and ways to confront it.

The first activity took place at the Cairo International Book Fair on 1 February 2014.

Activities included:

• Human chains carrying cartoons and anti-harassment messages.

• Awareness tours throughout the exhibition grounds.

• Introducing visitors to the initiative’s goals and activities.

• Raising awareness about sexual violence against women and girls in Egypt.

The initiative called upon women and girls to participate, emphasizing that they are the primary stakeholders in resisting violence directed against them.

February 2014

Open Letter to the President Regarding El-Shohadaa Metro Station (Formerly Ramses Station)

Issued by the I Saw Harassment Initiative
Cairo, Egypt – 9 February 2014

Save Women and Girls from Daily Violations in the Metro System

To His Excellency Counsellor Adly Mansour, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt,

Greetings,

In light of the difficult circumstances facing the country and ongoing efforts by state institutions to improve public security, the closure of Sadat Metro Station in Tahrir Square resulted in severe overcrowding at El-Shohadaa Metro Station (formerly Ramses Station).

Because passengers were forced to transfer between Metro Lines 1 and 2 through a single station rather than two, hundreds of women and girls became exposed to repeated forms of sexual harassment, ranging from verbal harassment to group sexual harassment, as well as verbal and physical assaults—even inside women-only carriages.

The initiative received dozens of complaints and testimonies describing the daily violations experienced by women and girls at El-Shohadaa Station as a direct consequence of this decision.

One testimony stated:

“When I arrived at El-Shohadaa Station, there was intense overcrowding and pushing. Young men were grabbing girls and trying to pull them. Suddenly, many hands were touching me and I could not tell who was responsible. Girls were crying and in shock. Some people even fell onto the tracks. We eventually reached the station exit after a terrifying experience.”

The initiative stressed that this testimony represents only a small fraction of what women and girls endure in public transportation and public spaces across Egypt.

The Initiative Calls Upon the President to:

First:
Issue immediate instructions to reopen the metro stations that had recently been closed.

Second:
Hold accountable those responsible for closing El-Shohadaa Station and launch an investigation into the violations suffered by women and girls as a result of poor management decisions.

Third:
Direct the Ministry of Transport to review and implement measures that ensure the safety and security of women and girls in all forms of public transportation.

Fourth:
Urge the Cabinet to adopt legislation criminalizing sexual harassment and to develop effective policies and mechanisms to reduce sexual violence against women and girls throughout Egypt.

The initiative emphasized that sexual harassment has become a serious social crisis preventing Egyptian women from fully enjoying their right to a safe life. Women and girls are increasingly forced to bear the burden of protecting themselves due to the absence of adequate state protection and the weak response to rising levels of sexual violence.

 

Public Meeting in Assiut

The I Saw Harassment Initiative, in cooperation with the Coptic Orthodox Diocese in El-Qousiya, Assiut Governorate, organized a public meeting with women and girls to discuss sexual harassment and violence against women in Egypt.

Agenda

09:00 – 09:15 AM
Registration and welcome.

09:15 – 10:00 AM
Introduction to the initiative, its activities, achievements, relationship with the media, volunteer recruitment procedures, and presentation of the initiative’s website.

10:00 – 11:00 AM
Definition of sexual harassment, its causes, forms, and methods of response.

11:00 – 11:15 AM
Break.

11:15 AM – 12:00 PM
Discussion of incidents of mass sexual violence during the events of 25 January and 30 June 2013, including causes, motives, and consequences.

12:00 – 01:00 PM
Presentation of testimonies from women and girls who had experienced sexual violence, followed by participant testimonies.

01:00 – 01:15 PM
Break.

01:15 – 02:00 PM
Storytelling and discussion session.

02:00 – 02:30 PM
Self-defense methods and strategies for confronting harassment, followed by a questionnaire.

02:30 – 03:00 PM
Open discussion, questions, and recommendations.

 

12 February 2014

“Harassment-Free Bus” – No to Harassment (Campaign Activity No. 2)

The I Saw Harassment Initiative announced a new awareness activity as part of its broader “No to Harassment” campaign, which seeks to encourage citizens to reject sexual harassment and violence against women and girls in Egypt.

The second activity was scheduled for:

Thursday, 13 February 2014
Abdel Moneim Riad Bus Terminal – Downtown Cairo

The event aimed to raise public awareness about the dangers of sexual harassment and practical ways to confront it.

Activities began at 4:00 PM with awareness tours around the bus terminal to introduce passengers to:

• The initiative and its objectives.

• The risks and consequences of sexual violence against women and girls.

• Methods for preventing and responding to harassment.

The event concluded at 7:00 PM.

The initiative called upon women and girls to participate, emphasizing that they are the rightful leaders in resisting all forms of violence directed against them and in advocating for safe public spaces for everyone.

April 2014

Press Conference to Sign a Cooperation Protocol Between the I Saw Harassment Initiative and the Hotel Establishments Chamber

Cairo – 10 April 2014

A Step Forward Toward Safety and Security for Women and Girls

The I Saw Harassment Initiative, launched by the Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development (ACT), in cooperation and coordination with the Hotel Establishments Chamber, invited media representatives and stakeholders to attend a press conference announcing the details of a cooperation protocol to be signed on 13 April 2014 in Sharm El-Sheikh, under the patronage of the Governor of South Sinai.

This protocol reflects the Hotel Establishments Chamber’s commitment to combating sexual harassment against women and girls by strengthening the capacities and skills of employees in Egyptian hotels to address and prevent this form of violence.

As one of Egypt’s most important economic sectors, tourism plays a vital role in national income and employment. It is also among the sectors most affected by political and security crises and often the slowest to recover. Egyptian tourism has suffered significantly since the events of the 25 January 2011 Revolution, due to instability and security concerns.

The initiative emphasized that crimes targeting foreign women tourists could have devastating consequences for Egypt’s tourism industry if effective preventive measures are not adopted.

Objectives of the Partnership

The partnership between the Hotel Establishments Chamber and ACT / I Saw Harassment aims to:

• Raise public awareness regarding sexual harassment.

• Build the capacities of tourism and hospitality workers.

• Provide knowledge and practical skills through workshops, training courses, and discussion sessions.

• Promote policies that ensure the safety of Egyptian and foreign women in tourist and archaeological sites.

Areas Covered by the Protocol

Members of the initiative would be authorized to conduct awareness campaigns and field activities in:

• Sharm El-Sheikh (South Sinai)

• Hurghada (Red Sea Governorate)

• Luxor

• Ain Sokhna (Suez Governorate)

• Alexandria

Training Topics for Hotel Employees

The training program includes:

• Gender equality standards.

• Human rights principles.

• Personal rights and freedoms.

• Mechanisms for combating violence and sexual harassment.

• Strategies for addressing negative behaviors, including harassment of tourists.

The protocol was signed by:

• Major General Khaled Fouda, Governor of South Sinai.

• Mr. Tawfik Kamel, Chairman of the Hotel Establishments Chamber.

• Dr. Azza Kamel, Executive Director of ACT and representative of the I Saw Harassment Initiative.

 

Sham El-Nessim 2014 Campaign

Towards Spring Holidays Free from Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls

Press Statement – 16 April 2014

The I Saw Harassment Initiative announced the establishment of two operations rooms in Cairo and Kafr El-Sheikh during the Sham El-Nessim celebrations.

The objectives included:

• Monitoring and documenting incidents of sexual violence.

• Conducting awareness campaigns about the dangers of sexual harassment.

• Encouraging women and girls to report violations.

• Raising awareness among men and boys about the harmful social, psychological, and economic consequences of sexual violence.

The initiative reaffirmed its commitment to non-violence and stressed that any harassment incidents should be addressed through legal channels and competent authorities.

Field Deployment Plan

Cairo

The operations room would operate from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM, covering:

• The area from the Maspero Building along the Nile Corniche to the Cairo Opera House.

• Tahrir Square and surrounding areas.

• Abdel Moneim Riad Square and surrounding areas.

Kafr El-Sheikh

The operations room would operate from 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM, covering:

• Sanaa Garden.

• Al-Nabawy Al-Mohandes Street (District 1).

• Ibrahim Al-Maghazi Street (intersection of Districts 1 and 2).

• Al-Khalifa Al-Maamoun Street (District 2).

Recommendations

The initiative called on:

Security Authorities

• To cooperate with volunteers and facilitate their awareness and monitoring activities.

Media Organizations

• To refrain from publishing images or information that could reveal the identities of survivors of violence.

• To respect survivors’ privacy and personal rights.

Women and Girls

• To report violations and insist on their right to safe public spaces free from harassment and sexual violence.

Men and Boys

• To support women and girls subjected to violence.

• To reject victim-blaming attitudes.

Important Note

All initiative volunteers would wear a unified uniform consisting of:

• A gray shirt.

• A red collar.

• The official logo of the I Saw Harassment Initiative.

 

I Saw Harassment Initiative

Working toward a society free from sexual harassment