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| Outrage at ‘Epidemic’ of Sexual Assault in Egypt | Outrage at ‘Epidemic’ of Sexual Assault in Egypt |
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| Women’s rights activists in Egypt were outraged Monday after video was posted online that appeared to show a brutal sexual assault in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Sunday. | |
| Footage of the attack, which many viewers described as too distressing to watch in full, prompted an outpouring of anguish on social networks at how routine the harassment and assault of women remains in Egypt, despite the efforts of activists in recent years to start a frank discussion of the severity of the problem. | Footage of the attack, which many viewers described as too distressing to watch in full, prompted an outpouring of anguish on social networks at how routine the harassment and assault of women remains in Egypt, despite the efforts of activists in recent years to start a frank discussion of the severity of the problem. |
| There was disgust at what many called an epidemic of sexual violence in Egypt, and anger at the police for failing to make women safe in such a celebrated public space. But there was also vitriol directed at Maha Bahnassy, a female television host for the pro-government Tahrir Channel, who was heard laughing during a correspondent’s field report on incidents of sexual harassment in the square on Sunday. | There was disgust at what many called an epidemic of sexual violence in Egypt, and anger at the police for failing to make women safe in such a celebrated public space. But there was also vitriol directed at Maha Bahnassy, a female television host for the pro-government Tahrir Channel, who was heard laughing during a correspondent’s field report on incidents of sexual harassment in the square on Sunday. |
| In video of the report posted on YouTube, as the correspondent, Samar Negida, struggled to describe the attacks over the noise of celebratory fireworks in the square, Ms. Bahnassy’s giggling from the studio was clearly audible, along with her comment: “Well, they are happy. The people are having fun.” | In video of the report posted on YouTube, as the correspondent, Samar Negida, struggled to describe the attacks over the noise of celebratory fireworks in the square, Ms. Bahnassy’s giggling from the studio was clearly audible, along with her comment: “Well, they are happy. The people are having fun.” |
| After Ms. Bahnassy said on Monday that she had not intended to interrupt the live report but was merely “commenting to my guests” in the studio, unaware that her microphone was on, the correspondent, Ms. Negida, called that explanation unacceptable. | After Ms. Bahnassy said on Monday that she had not intended to interrupt the live report but was merely “commenting to my guests” in the studio, unaware that her microphone was on, the correspondent, Ms. Negida, called that explanation unacceptable. |
| The British-Egyptian journalist and blogger Sarah Carr observed on Facebook that Ms. Bahnassy’s reaction “illustrates perfectly why sexual harassment/assault in Egypt is such a chronic problem.” | The British-Egyptian journalist and blogger Sarah Carr observed on Facebook that Ms. Bahnassy’s reaction “illustrates perfectly why sexual harassment/assault in Egypt is such a chronic problem.” |
| “Why did she say this?” Ms. Carr asked. “Perhaps because she was unprepared and has had it drilled into her that the job of the media is always to conceal the truth as part of the Egypt First effort?” Or was it, Ms. Carr suggested, “because she lives in a society where women’s bodies are sacrosanct and off limits to other males when said bodies are within eyeshot of a male relative, but otherwise it is open season?” | “Why did she say this?” Ms. Carr asked. “Perhaps because she was unprepared and has had it drilled into her that the job of the media is always to conceal the truth as part of the Egypt First effort?” Or was it, Ms. Carr suggested, “because she lives in a society where women’s bodies are sacrosanct and off limits to other males when said bodies are within eyeshot of a male relative, but otherwise it is open season?” |
| Mostafa Hussein, a psychiatrist who has worked with victims of torture, observed that political factions attempting to place the blame for the assault on supporters of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi were blind to the fact that such attacks have taken place during public gatherings in the square in recent years by opposition groups too. | Mostafa Hussein, a psychiatrist who has worked with victims of torture, observed that political factions attempting to place the blame for the assault on supporters of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi were blind to the fact that such attacks have taken place during public gatherings in the square in recent years by opposition groups too. |
| In reply to those comments, the political scientist Sumita Pahwa noted that assaults seemed most common during celebrations of one sort or another, not during protests against the authorities during the past three years. That was the case in February 2011, when an assault on the CBS News correspondent Lara Logan in Tahrir Square the night that Hosni Mubarak was forced from power drew global attention to the issue. | In reply to those comments, the political scientist Sumita Pahwa noted that assaults seemed most common during celebrations of one sort or another, not during protests against the authorities during the past three years. That was the case in February 2011, when an assault on the CBS News correspondent Lara Logan in Tahrir Square the night that Hosni Mubarak was forced from power drew global attention to the issue. |
| Harassment and violent assaults on women in Egypt are not restricted to public gatherings in urban areas, however, as the Cairo-based Public Service Broadcasting Initiative made clear in an in-depth video report produced last year. | Harassment and violent assaults on women in Egypt are not restricted to public gatherings in urban areas, however, as the Cairo-based Public Service Broadcasting Initiative made clear in an in-depth video report produced last year. |
| A less polished but perhaps more sobering video report was posted on YouTube in March by Zeinab Sabet, a victim of harassment and a founder of the group Dignity Without Borders. Ms. Sabet confronted a group of young boys who had harassed her and recorded them explaining why, in their view, women like her were to blame for “forcing” men to harass them by wearing provocative clothing. | A less polished but perhaps more sobering video report was posted on YouTube in March by Zeinab Sabet, a victim of harassment and a founder of the group Dignity Without Borders. Ms. Sabet confronted a group of young boys who had harassed her and recorded them explaining why, in their view, women like her were to blame for “forcing” men to harass them by wearing provocative clothing. |
| Although blaming the victim is common in Egyptian discourse, the results of a detailed report about sexual harassment in Egypt published by the United Nations in 2013, based on more than 3,000 interviews with women and men, concluded that the vast majority of those subjected to unwanted advances were dressed in conservative attire. | Although blaming the victim is common in Egyptian discourse, the results of a detailed report about sexual harassment in Egypt published by the United Nations in 2013, based on more than 3,000 interviews with women and men, concluded that the vast majority of those subjected to unwanted advances were dressed in conservative attire. |
| Late Monday, the independent Cairene daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that Egyptian authorities called the publication of the video evidence of the assault an act of criminal “inciting debauchery.” | Late Monday, the independent Cairene daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that Egyptian authorities called the publication of the video evidence of the assault an act of criminal “inciting debauchery.” |