Considering that today (20/06/2011) is the day when bloggers/tweeters/anyone with a working Internet connection really unite to voice their objection to sexual harassment, and since my opinions on this topic are far more than tweets can hold without invading the timelines of everyone that has decided to click that little button underneath my name and follow my rants, I've decided to write up a post about it, in the hopes that it will not lull you to sleep.
First of all, as a female, I've been lucky enough in my life to avoid most forms of sexual harassment. By those I mean touching/rape/etc., but, of course, I haven't been able to avoid leering gazes or degrading comments as things like that are commonplace in the world we live in today, especially (although it saddens me to say it) in Egypt.
Since I haven't really lived in any other country for a length of time or with a certain number of years behind me that enable me to observe the happenings around me, I'll stick to what I know and talk about Egypt. I'll try to cover all the points of view I've heard over the years to avoid falling into sticky generalizations and stereotypes.
Most people I've come across in the middle class of Egypt are very much opposed to sexual harassment. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard (I don't know what they think in the safety of their minds) anyone say that harassment is in any way okay. However, the areas where people differ are the a) causes and b) ways of elimination of sexual harassment.
1. It's the girl's fault.
Now, this is unfortunately a commonly-held belief which really, really, REALLY and truly pisses me off. The believers of this idea have turned it almost into a mantra, blaming female victims for their attire (never mind the fact that some Niqabis get harassed as well) and depicting harassers as enticed men who fall into wrongdoing due to the allurement of the females around them. What is really sickening is when these people use religion to back up their arguments, using the part of it which orders people to dress modestly and completely ignoring the one which preaches looking away from others whatever their type of dress may be. This, of course, is a hideous double standard that a significant percentage of our culture portrays today, and that forces young women to dress a certain way not because of their faith, but in order to guarantee their security (which even then isn't 100% guaranteed), completely undermining the essence of religion.
2. Harassers are the result of a broken society.
This one I actually partially agree with. I also believe that it's a direct result of #1. After all, when a young boy grows up in a society where the general consensus is, "You can do whatever you want and not have to be punished for it just because you were born a male," this is the kind of thinking he will attain as he develops into a part of the community. So, in a way, it's not completely his fault as much as it is that of the people and ideas he is surrounded by. However, this doesn't completely put him off the hook. God gave us all brains for a reason, and not using your brain to find out whether or not the concepts you've been fed as a helpless child are true is just as much a crime as sexual harassment is.
3. The only end to this dilemma is enforcing the death penalty.
In all honesty, when I first heard that a law might be (or was really, I'm not sure) passed that sentenced convicted rapists to death, I was overjoyed. I mean, I believe rape is probably the worst thing that can ever happen to a person, as it's a horrendous crime that strips you of your physical and psychological well-being, personal space, dignity, and so much more. Then when I got to thinking about it, I realized that this really wouldn't solve anything. Executing a rapist may make victims and their families happy for a while, but in the end, how would this contribute to ending the problem? Would it make other such offenders stop? No, I realized, it wouldn't. That does not, however, imply by any means that they should be let off the hook. A harasser of any kind should be severely punished, but we need to find out the cause of this problem. In some cases, mental rehabilitation could go a long way towards changing this person's life, thus helping them and the people they might have harassed in the future. Acknowledging that each case is different, and helping the people who need help; that's what might actually sever some of the roots harassment has grown into our modern society.
To sum up, sexual harassment is one of the prominent stains on our somewhat diseased community. In order to take concrete steps towards ending it, we have to stop spinning out useless excuses and tackle the problem head-on. A person (whether male or female, I know females are more likely to get sexually harassed but believe it or not some males encounter it as well) has the right to walk freely anywhere in this world without being subject to excruciating encroachments on their private space, be it verbally or physically.
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