The Girl Who Said No
Noha Rushdie Saleh, a 27 year old filmmaker in Cairo, is my hero.
While walking down her street, Sharif Gomaa, 28, pulled up beside Noha in his van, grabbed her breasts and pulled her towards the vehicle so forcefully that she fell. Enraged, Noha jumped on the hood of his car to prevent him from driving off. Then, despite the efforts of onlookers to help her attacker escape, Noha dragged him to a police station and demanded that they report the crime. When they refused, she drove Sharif and herself to another station in her own car. This time the police commended her on her actions and, on October 21st, Sharif Gomaa became the first man ever to be jailed for sexual harassment in Egypt.
Sexual harassment and assault is incredibly common in Egypt. According to a survey conducted by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights, 62% of men committed harassment, while 83% of women had experienced harassment but only 2.4% ever reported it.
This is in large part due to the widespread perception that the woman is at fault, especially if the woman is dressed "immodestly". Never mind that 72% of women responding to the survey reported that they were veiled at the time of their attack.
In fact, it took nearly 2 hours for Noha to convince the crowd that had gathered that her attacker was a criminal. In that time, only one person spoke up in her defense, while others called her crazy and placed her mode of dress at fault (though she was wearing modest loose clothing). The lone woman present in the crowd told Noha that reporting him wasn't worth the humiliation.
In an ECWR press release, they made the optimistic statement that Gomaa's sentence "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."
However, an independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported:
"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."
Right. The judicial system advocates preservation of a flawed public morality that condones sexual offense against women. Hypocritical much? I want to break something.
Noha's persistence was the result of a similar attack suffered at a much younger age that left her traumatised for many years. Her resolution to never again abandon her rights has led to a landmark precedent in Egyptian law. Unfortunately, the country still has a long way to go.
MidEast Youth: Interview with the girl who said: NO!
BBC: Egyptian Sexual Attacker Jailed.
Muslimah Media Watch: Harassment = Jail Time!
Jezebel: Foreign Firsts: Egypt Jails A Man For Sexual Harassment Of A Woman
Reuters: Two-thirds of Egyptian men harass women - Survey
While walking down her street, Sharif Gomaa, 28, pulled up beside Noha in his van, grabbed her breasts and pulled her towards the vehicle so forcefully that she fell. Enraged, Noha jumped on the hood of his car to prevent him from driving off. Then, despite the efforts of onlookers to help her attacker escape, Noha dragged him to a police station and demanded that they report the crime. When they refused, she drove Sharif and herself to another station in her own car. This time the police commended her on her actions and, on October 21st, Sharif Gomaa became the first man ever to be jailed for sexual harassment in Egypt.
Sexual harassment and assault is incredibly common in Egypt. According to a survey conducted by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights, 62% of men committed harassment, while 83% of women had experienced harassment but only 2.4% ever reported it.
This is in large part due to the widespread perception that the woman is at fault, especially if the woman is dressed "immodestly". Never mind that 72% of women responding to the survey reported that they were veiled at the time of their attack.
In fact, it took nearly 2 hours for Noha to convince the crowd that had gathered that her attacker was a criminal. In that time, only one person spoke up in her defense, while others called her crazy and placed her mode of dress at fault (though she was wearing modest loose clothing). The lone woman present in the crowd told Noha that reporting him wasn't worth the humiliation.
In an ECWR press release, they made the optimistic statement that Gomaa's sentence "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."
However, an independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported:
"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."
Right. The judicial system advocates preservation of a flawed public morality that condones sexual offense against women. Hypocritical much? I want to break something.
Noha's persistence was the result of a similar attack suffered at a much younger age that left her traumatised for many years. Her resolution to never again abandon her rights has led to a landmark precedent in Egyptian law. Unfortunately, the country still has a long way to go.
MidEast Youth: Interview with the girl who said: NO!
BBC: Egyptian Sexual Attacker Jailed.
Muslimah Media Watch: Harassment = Jail Time!
Jezebel: Foreign Firsts: Egypt Jails A Man For Sexual Harassment Of A Woman
Reuters: Two-thirds of Egyptian men harass women - Survey