Egyptian women have something to celebrate: yesterday the first man in Egyptian history was sentenced to jail for sexual harassment. And not just any sentence: three years in jail with hard labor in addition to an LE 5,001 fine (approximately $1,000). An unexpected, but very welcome sentence.
27-year-old filmmaker Noha Rushdie Saleh was groped last June by 28-year-old van driver Sharif Gomaa as he drove alongside her, who grabbed her breasts so forcefully she fell.
But Noha didn’t ‘let it go’ as so many Egyptian women do—the most recent Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) survey says that only 2.4% of the 1010 women surveyed who experience sexual harassment filed reports of the incident.
Instead, as Noha recounts in a great interview with the weekly Egyptian independent Al-Yom Al-Sabe’ (The Seventh Day, unfortunately not available in English), she kicked up a fuss by holding on to the van’s side mirror before Gomaa could drive off. An hour later she managed to drag him into the police station with the help of one passerby, to the disapproval of many onlookers, some who told her it was her fault for what she was wearing (a baggy sports outfit). The police refused at first to listen to her, and advised her to accept the driver’s apology to avoid “scandal.”
Sexual harassment in Egypt and many other countries, as we’ve discussed many times here on MMW, is often perceived to be the fault of the woman—that she someone ‘wanted it’ or provoked it. I won’t go into an analysis of the Egyptian psyche when it comes to harassment here, and instead offer you this great post which analyzes the reactions of the onlookers in Noha’s case.
The sentence is believed to have been so harsh to set an example. Egyptian law does not address the issue of sexual harassment, though it does address Hatk el ‘ard, proved sexual assault, which carries a maximum one year jail sentence and an LE 100 ($20) fine, in Article 306 of the Penal Law.
Gomaa’s sentence, according to an ECWR press release:
“Will restore confidence in the legal system’s ability to defend women subjected to such crimes, in every step of the process – from filing police reports, to investigation, to sentencing. [It] sends a message to all segments of Egyptian society that sexual harassment is a crime and will not be tolerated. The sentence will also encourage participation in the dialogue on developing a legal definition of sexual harassment and the need to formulate laws criminalizing it in the Egyptian Penal Code. The success of the victim in this case will encourage others to report incidences of sexual harassment. For potential harassers, the sentence will deter them from abusing women’s rights to personal safety and freedom from sexual harassment.”
Here’s hoping.
According to Al-Masry Al-Youm, (The Egyptian Today), a daily independent Egyptian newspaper:
“The victim asked that the session be made public since it was an issue of ‘public opinion.’ The defense refused, calling the case ‘trivial.’ The court decided to keep the session private, in order to prevent ‘tarnishing public modesty’ with the phrases mentioned in the harassment incident and to preserve public morals.”
Noha in the courtroom. Image via Al Masry Al Youm.
I think I barfed a little there. And a bit more when I see how they contrast the victim’s mother as “wearing her abaya and veil,” with Noha’s “half-sleeved jeans shirt and blue jeans.” (pictured right)
The ruling was covered in both international and local press as well as all over the blogsphere. But what I found to be very revealing was reading the hundreds of comments on local press websites, and seeing what the public really thinks.
Of course, a lot of comments were happy for Noha, and applauded her actions. I thought it was doubly interesting to see that a lot of men out there were also applauding her, given that a large percentage of Egyptian men (and this is not just generalizing, statistics confirm this) think there’s nothing wrong with sexual harassment. Some men were even critiquing not only the harasser but also the police men who did nothing to help Noha.
But there were also many troubling comments, especially the ones that weren’t openly hostile, but the ones agreeing that the man was at fault, but saying so was Noha. Here’s a very small selection (translated):
“Just like terrorists in Afghanistan are victims of their communities, so are sexual harassers. With what logic do we take a person into account for stealing when their community doesn’t provide food?” Mounir Nabil (Facebook).
“Even though I do not support any rape or harassment of any women I still put part of the responsibility on women as a result of their lack of modesty in dress and their walk, and not considering the circumstances youth go through in that there are no jobs for marriage. Look at university students wearing T-shirts that show half their naked stomachs. Does this mesh with out traditions and religion?” An Egyptian Citizen. (Al-Masry Al-Youm).
“An unfair ruling. Now any woman any man talks to will say he’s harassing me” Amir (Al-Masry Al-Youm).
“Cover yourself with the hijab. I don’t deny that what happened to you was sad in a community that has lost its values and manners but you as you appear in your picture with hair uncovered are one of the factors that helped the person harass you. Have we heard of harassment of a covered woman? Of course not […] So cover yourself before you live in the role of the hero who showcased her body so the misguided wolves devoured her.” Mahmoud Abo El-Kheir. (Al-Yom Al-Sabe’).
“Everyone must respect themselves. The man should have been executed. But just like the judge punished the man he should have punished the woman because just like all the other girls in the Egyptian streets she was wearing scandalous clothing. I hope we fix the problem of women’s dress before we fix sexual harassment.” Anonymous (Al-Masry Al-Youm).
“You aren’t brave. You exploited the circumstances so you could be a media entry where satellite [channels] could speak about you. You are looking for fame and found out that being a producer was a long way so this was your chance. If there is harassment in the society then you are a reason because I do not see in you shyness and the religious girl. […] One of your interviewers [asked you] how were you harassed? You said: “He held me from my breasts!!!” Did you have to clarify completely? Did the society forget what sexual harassment was? But in this way you became famous. May God guide you […] It is impossible for a veiled women who sticks to manners to be harassed. Fathy Mahmoud Morsy. (Al-Yom Al-Sabe’).
“I swear to God if I was the judge I would have said [Gomaa] was innocent and given him a reward. Those girls are a bunch of human rights animals. A group of women who leave their husbands and flick through satellite channels. [They] leave their husbands [alone]. What can they do except harass another woman? I swear to god this is an unfaaaaaaaaaaaaaaair ruling.” Khalifa Al-Zaatary (Al-Masry Al-Youm).
“Is the problem with the youth in this country or the scandalous naked clothing which make men desire women?” Sayed. (Al-Masry Al-Youm).
Sigh. To repeat, for the 1000th time: Veiled women are harassed just as much as unveiled women do. In Egypt, a country where over 80% of the women are veiled, 83% of women are harassed. Harassment occurs for a multitude of reasons, not because of dress.
I’ll end with one quote I particularly liked:
” ‘And the defendant’s mother sat wearing her abaya and veil next to his brother, crying and saying her son is innocent and wouldn’t do such things.’ [quoting Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper]. I wish just once one mother of one of you of this country would admit she wasn’t able to raise [her kids] instead of them throwing their [misdeeds] on others and saying we didn’t do anything.” Amina Zaki (Facebook).
So true. I believe the way you are raised has as much of an impact on you as does your environment. If men in Egypt are raised to understand that women are equal and deserve respect, a lot less women would be harassed. But as long as the mentality persists that the women are to blame, we will remain as we are. Punishing the harasser is a great step, but it’s not what’s most important: we need to stop men from harassing women in the first place.
harrassment of covered women happens ALL THE TIME, I see it happen everyday! (as all these men say they can’t believe, I do not think they are being honest with themselves), but of course the women cant say that this happens because the society will punish them for it- just as all of you are now trying to do to the woman who wrote this article and to the woman who says that she has too much respect for herself and her body to let a man touch her. she is the one who is acting in religion and not all of you- the prophet never said that you should rape or touch a woman just because you can’t control yourself, he said to protect yourself from this and that is exactly what noha did. obviously disgracing a woman in this way is not the same as stealing food to live… you do not need to rape or sexually harrass a woman to live, as mounir nabil apparently believes. Apparently men in Cairo find this hard to believe, but the city is known throughout the world for harrassing women. I love Cairo and I agree with the judge that this will restore confidence in the ability of the legal system to deal with such crimes.
The comments annoy me every time I read them. I can’t believe in this day and age men still want to blame the women. If this same man’s mother or sister or wife was harassed in the same way he harassed Noha would he still say it was my sister’s fault? The double standard is aggravating. Regardless of what she wore this give no one the right to grope and touch. I applaud the legal system for finally taking a stand and doing the right thing.
It is stunning that this is the first man in Egyptian history to be sentenced for sexual harassment. Nevertheless, this is an excellent court ruling and it hopely will set a precedent, encouraging other women to come forward. Or will it? The fear is that the crime of the man will be forgotten, but the supposed crime of the woman for speaking out and bringing shame on her community, nation, blah blah, will stick. I remember now the case of another Egyptian woman called Hind al-Hinawi, who on discovering that the father of her new-born child denied both paternity and ever having entered into a temporary marriage with her (the coward tricked her into handing over the urfi marriage certificate), decided to use the courts and media pressure (he is a famous actor – Ahmad al-Fishawi) to force him to acknowledge his legal responsibilities. Half of her family stuck by her, the other half disowned her for bringing shame upon the family name. In Cairo I encountered a more covert form of sexism – male friends criticised her soley, they maintained, for trying to become a celebrity on the back of a ‘private matter’. In my estimation it comes down to the same charge – a woman raising her voice is trying to draw attention to herself; shame on her! This is family business (which will be debated by the men of the family of course).
Noha is not supposed to represent ideal womanhood anymore than a veiled woman. She is simply and courageously asserting her right to walk down the street without being intimidated and touched in an aggressive and violating way. Harrassment is a form of bullying and is done by those who feel that the immediate satisfaction of their desires and needs is more important than the right of the other to their privacy and the individual’s single purpose of that moment. In patriarchal societies in East and West men are often brought up to think that woman have no purpose of their own, that their time and personal space has no value. That is why the wearing or not of the veil is irrelevant in these cases.
So when we talk about personal and private matters, and not airing them, let us first ask whose privacy was initially violated through physical aggression or public denial, thus forcing the victim to in turn expose the aggressor in the hope that other women can go about their private business with dignity.
Great post Ethar! Glad to hear this guy was punished. Now on to the thousands of others
.
I’m shocked yet not surprised at some of the comments. These people are obviously delusional. Veiled women never get harassed??!! The commenters are also obviously male. Or women with their heads in the sand. This whole blaming the woman is getting old and tired. It is just now that we are starting to move away from it in the West and still the mentality continues, though to a less acceptable level than before. This myth is truly an international one.
I’m curious how Egyptian law defines sexual harassment versus sexual assault. Under Canadian law for instance groping breasts is sexual assault not harassment. When there is touching of certain body parts involved it is considered assault.
I have two sons, Mashallah, and I am raising them to respect and honour women. Sexual harrassment is such a frustrated attempt. What do men get out of it? I mean there are frustrated women too but they don’t go around grabbing penises!
OMG ! Those comments those men said . Are provoking to the extreme !
All comments that call for the girls to be punished because of the way they’re dressed are made by MALES.
One question to those men: Where does self-discipline come in? or are you admitting that you’re animals, unable to control yourselves?
It’s disgusting.
Besides, Hijab is not the answer; statistics say that 83% of women are harassed, and it’s safe to assume that more than half of Egyptian women today are veiled, if not more, so the 83% comprises more veiled women than non-veiled!
A family friend had tripped and fell in the street, and all male passersby were kind enough to help her back on her feet, but not before each of them had a feel of her breasts. Oh, have I mentioned that she’s nearly 50 years old, is veiled and wears a long wide Abaya?
So to all men out there, stop kidding yourselves and finding lame, idiotic excuses for your revolting behavior! And stop pinning your disgraceful actions on women!!
After the third comment, I just could not keep reading! He grapped her breasts so forcefully she fell! And yet public opinion still places a fault on her, Egyptian society has a lot of work to do concerning this reality. What’s next, if they believe the fault lies in her clothing, then the next women who is wearing “modest clothing” (whatever they refer that to mean) get’s sexually assaulted they’ll blame her being outdoors. And so on etc.
“In Egypt, a country where over 80% of the women are veiled, 83% of women are harassed.” AND yet male scholars tell us that Muslim women ONLY need a male guardian when travelling in non-Muslim countries for fear of being harassed, and not in a Muslim country (how ironic they need to get a hold of REALITY/the state of things as they actually exist).
Is he really the first man sentenced for sexual harassement in Egypt?
This Post have been published on IkhwanWeb ( The Muslim Brotherhood official English web site ) , we hope that doesn’t trouble you..
http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Article.asp?ID=18302&SectionID=0
I’m sorry for being such a wet blanket, I really, really am! I realize this is progress towards security for all women, and I should have patience. But how can I be optimistic, like this one women stated in Egyptian news….
“She believes that if the public doesn’t fully comprehend the problem, how can the government. “They just didn’t get it and were so out of it … they have lived here for years and didn’t even know what happened in 2006, so how can we, Egyptian and foreign women, expect the government to do much in response?”
Public Opinion please move a little faster ( I feel like I’m asking for too much).
I give Props to all those Egyptian women who went to those sexual harassment protests, to all the Egyptian bloggers (Male and Female) who commented on incedents when state newspapers refused to, to all those women and male activists who toke vigorous action campaigning against this, to all those passerby’s who helped women (like in the case of Noha), and to those women like Noha who spoke up for themselves. Props to all of you!
I don’t get this mindset that it is somehow the woman’s fault. So her hair is showing … big deal. So her legs are exposed or her stomach is bare? Shocking? Get over it.
Whatever happened to self control? Men, can you not control what you say or do? Look the other way! Keep your mouth closed! Keep your hands to yourself! My goodness, are you mindless robots or something?
Everyone answers for how he or she treated others. How he or she responded to temptations and problems and good things in life. You have got to stop blaming others for causing you to sin. Please! I’d like for you to explain that one to God. He gave YOU a mind…use it.
Thanks for sharing this story. I am really glad to know the perp was punished. I hope to read about more such cases in the future.
I would very much be interested in seeing if those comments would be any different if Noha did cover her hair. I highly doubt it. Most likely they would have said she should have been covered more, she should have worn an abaya, she was looking and smiling at me, blahblah. The perverts always have a way to pass the responsibility for their actions off on someone else. And men do not need sex to live in response to Mounir Nabil so that is a ridiculous comparison. He might think he does but he most certainly does not.
Anyways, I in part blame the parents. If you teach your children (either thru actions or words) that women deserve what they get and if they constantly hear you sexually denigrating women than this is what you get. A nation where 60% of men openly admit to treating women like they are whores walking the street for their personal gratification and where a large percentage of women feel that it is there fate in life to just except such behavior from “men” and get on with it. Sad.
On a side note, I do find it somewhat ironic that the court hearing was not made public in order to preserve “public modesty and morals”. How can you preserve something that seems practically nonexistent?
Thank you all for your great comments!
@ jamile: Thankfully no one has tried to ‘punish’ me for speaking up yet! The most I’ve gotten so far are some nasty comments. And yes, harassment of covered/ modestly dressed women happens all the time—that’s the whole argument. The people who say it doesn’t happen are either a) ignorant b) in denial c) living in a cave or d) lying in order to try and put the blame at women’s feet.
I hope the judgment will restore confidence in the ability of the legal system to deal with sexual harassment cases, but I fear that this will be a one-off, something they did so they could say “ok, get off our backs, we’ve announced that it’s wrong.” ECWR seem too optimistic, but who knows?
@ SaudiAmber: For you and all of you who seem surprised that this is the first time a man has been sentenced for sexual harassment in Egypt, don’t be! Until very recently, a man could get out of punishment for rape by marrying the woman he raped! Sexual harassment is so engrained in Egyptian society that many people, men and women, don’t even think about it anymore.
Your example of Hind al-Hinawi is spot on. Even though she managed to prove the child was his and that he lied in court until the evidence proved otherwise, she is still spoken about by many in very negative terms, while the actor has gone on his merry way. He’s still very popular on TV and with youth—he’s a ‘man,’ you see.
@ Sobia: Egyptian law does not define or punish sexual harassment—that’s what organizations like ECWR and the National Council for Women’s rights are trying to do. That’s particularly why Noha’s case is so important, it truly is a precedent.
@ Achelois: lol!
@ Laila: Actually, some Muslim scholars (not all) say that a woman needs a male guardian if she travels anywhere. A lot (including the Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa) say that if she is sure it is safe she can travel alone.
@ Abdulrahman: Thanks for the link and for dropping by.
@ laila: I agree with you that the perception of sexual harassment as normal is far worse than the actual act itself. In Noha’s case, she had to wait an hour before dragging Gomaa to the station because no one in the street would help her. Everyone told her to forget it and that she was bringing ‘scandal’ upon herself. Even Gomaa was shocked that she was speaking out, he didn’t understand why she wasn’t ashamed!
But the government is doing something, and it’s partly because of the media attention, which casts Egypt in a bad light and scares off the tourists. When there was a mass sexual harassment in Eid 2006, the government denied it and it was bloggers who broke the story with videos. But when there was a mass sexual harassment in Eid this year, the government actually arrested 8 men. Baby steps!
This sounds all too familiar. Just recently there was a discussion on sexual harassment in my gender studies class. I really hate that even today women are still blamed for being sexually harassed.
It’s the same stuff, whenever a woman comes out and admit she was sexually harassed, people say things like “oh she’s just trying to get attention.” It’s really infuriating.
i think it is important that the egyptian judicial system is taking a stance against sexual harassment but it can’t end there. the issue is much deeper and it won’t go away by throwing everyone in jail (the prison industrial complex is so messed up!) hopefully this will create more public awareness about the issue and help spearhead the work of anti-violence activists who are trying to really end the problem.
Reading those comments makes me SO mad. Veiled women don’t get harassed? Oh, really? That’s funny because pretty much the ONLY times I’ve been cat called and verbally harassed or hit on in public was when I was wearing hijab.
Just when you think society might be progressing, you realize it’s still in the dark ages. Well, not everyone at least.
Good for Noha!
That took some serious courage to keep insisting on her rights.
She’s on the hero list now!
Change is good. But not all change is correct.
I am confused why they are calling this sexual harassment and not sexual assault.
Or is that your phraseology? In which case it is wrong.
Assault maybe deserves 3 years and hard labor. Harassment shouldn’t
What is harassment, what is assault, and is there a line between them (and if so, where)? These are the questions that Egyptian law needs to answer lucidly so that when there is a next time, action can be taken appropriately.
As for Noha, good on her.