فلنتوقف عن التحرش: إنه القهر وليس الجنس

وهل علينا العيد مرة أخرى وكالعادة لم يأتي بجديد. موجات من التحرش الجنسي انتشرت سواء في وسط البلد بالقاهرة أو خارج وسط البلد أو المحافظات التي قليلا ما نعرف ما يدور بها. الأمر كان مختلف قليلا هذه المرة حيث كان هناك بعض المبادرات التطوعية التي حاولت رصد الظاهرة والتصدي لها، وكانت التغطية الإعلامية أكثر تكثيفا حيث كان من الواضح أن كاميرات الصحافة مستعدة لالتقاط صور من قلب الحدث. والجديد ايضا أن رأينا نقاشات وكتابات تحاول لتحليل ظاهرة التحرش الجنسي أكثر من الماضي.

هل نجحت تلك التحليلات في استيعاب واقع التحرش الجنسي؟ معتقدش.

لازال العديد ممن يحاولوا فهم التحرش يحصروا أسباب الظاهرة في واحد من اثنين: أولهم هو ملابس المرأة ودرجة "احتشامها" و في أقوال أخرى وجود المرأة عموما في الشارع وثانيهم الكبت أو "الهيجان" الجنسي الذي يعاني منه الشباب.

في الحقيقة لا يختلف التفسيران عن بعضهما البعض كثيرا فهم أشبه بوجهان لعملة واحدة. يعتبر أصحاب هذه النظرية أن المرأة هي كيان جنسي مثير أشبه بمغناطيس أو وعاء جنسي متحرك وبما أن الشباب أصبح لا يملك أن يتزوج في سن مبكر فبالتالي يعاني من الكبت الجنسي ومشاهدة هذه الأوعية الجنسية (النساء) تتجول في الشارع سوف يستفزه والتالي لابد أن "يغرف" منها قدر ما استطاع لاشباع احتياجاته ورغباته.

لماذا يحدث التحرش الجنسي ولماذا انتشر بهذا الشكل؟ من المؤكد أن الشباب في بلدنا مكبوت ولكن أي نوع من الكبت؟ يحصل معظمنا على التعليم في منظومة تعليمية يخرج منها مشوه نفسيا وغير معد لمواجهة الحياة وتحدياتها ليقابل سوق عمل لا يرحم. من الممكن إعطاء الكثير من الاحصائيات عن معدل البطالة  ولكن الأرقام لن تعبر عن التجربة التي يمر بها الباحثين عن عمل كريم ودخل معقول بدون جدوى.  وفوق هذا كله من يسمع رأي الشباب أو يستثمر في طاقتهم وابداعاتهم؟ لا أحد. ما هي مدى مشاركة الشباب في أنشطة مجتمعية أو سياسية؟ 3% قبل الثورة. هل تغير هذا المعدل بعد الثورة؟ غالبا ولكن ليس بالقدر الكافي بعد. ماذا نتوقع بعد هذه الخلطة من التهميش والفشل؟ احباط وعنف وتطرف ديني. 

المشكلة ليست الكبت الجنسي ولا ملابس النساء. الحقيقة هي أن الرجال في مجتمعنا لا يشعرون برجولتهم. الحقيقة هي أن الرجال في بلدنا يشعرون بالقهر. المقموع يقمع من هو أضعف منه. واحنا عندنا من القمع كتير.. قرون من الاحتلال وعقود من الديكتاتورية العسكرية. الرجال يخرجون شحنتهم من الاحباط والضعف على من أضعف منهم: النساء غالبا!

العام الماضي كنت جزء من دراسة بحثية عن آراء الشباب في التحرش الجنسي. أكثر ما لفت انتباهي هو عمق المفاهيم المغلوطة لدى الشباب عن التحرش. بالرغم من رفض جزء كبير منهم لظاهرة التحرش ولكن هناك الكثير من يعتقد أن الفتاة هي السبب الأساسي في التحرش بل وغالبا ما يستمتعن به. الأخطر هو عدم تفهم هؤلاء الشباب بتأثير التحرش على النساء سواء على المدى القصير أو الطويل وهذا ينطبق على الكثير من الذكور للأسف.

 لا يقدر معظمنا احساس الضعف والخوف وقلة الحيلة الذي يولده التحرش سواء كان لفظيا أو بدنيا. لا يقدر معظمنا أن نظرة من شاب الى جسد المرأة تشعرها بأنها كيان بدون احساس فما بالك عندما تمتد أيديهم إلى أكثر مناطق الجسم خصوصية بغرض الإهانة وإثبات القوة وليس بغرض الإشباع الجنسي. لا تتعجبوا إذا دعت بعض النساء لاستخدام للعنف ضد المتحرشين فهي النتيجة الطبيعية لما يلاقوه في الشوارع. إذا كنت ترغب في فهم تجربة التحرش ربما الأفضل أن تسمع النساء أنفسهن مثل تدوينة شيرين ثابت بعنوان موقع اباحي أو تدوينة إيزيس خليل عن علاقتها بجسدها.

هل هناك من حل؟ بالطبع. أملنا في تحرر الشعب من قيوده وعودة الحرية والكرامة له (استعنا على الشقا بالله). لابد من اصلاح التعليم من ناحية المناهج أو أسلوب التعليم العقيم. لابد من أن تحتوي المادة الدراسية على مواد تعزز من ثقافة حقوق الانسان واحترام الآخر والمساواة بين الجنسين وأيضا التربية الجنسية. لابد ن مشاركة الشباب الحقيقية في كل ما يخصهم ويخص المجتمع ولا أقصد هنا المشاركة على غرار المجلس القومي للشباب.

يتحدث الكثير عن تشديد العقوبات والقوانين الرادعة، ولا أنكر تشككي من فعالية هذه المقترحات فلدينا العديد من القوانين التي لا تجد من ينفذها. كما يتحدث الكثير عن تشديد وجود قوات الشرطة بالشوارع، قد يكون هذا مقترح معقول ولكن ماذا عن رجال الشرطة الذين يتحرشوا بالنساء. وما الذي سوف يشجع النساء على اللجوء للشرطة للابلاغ مع معرفتنا جميعا بأزمة الثقة بين المواطن والشرطة؟ 

القانون معركة مهمة ولكن أهم منها هي العمل مع المجتمع نفسه. لا شك في أن القانون يعبر بشكل ما عن التزام الدولة نحو قضية ما ولكننا نعيش في وقت الشعب. المبادرات الشعبية (بعيدا عن الدولة) من أهم الطرق التي نخلق بها التغيير في مجتمعنا وبالفعل ظهر العديد منها على الساحة مؤخرا. 

أما الاقتراحات الأخرى على غرار تسهيل زواج الشباب أو تقصير فترة التعليم أو تغيير ملابس النساء فلا أعتقد أنها تحتاج إضاعة الوقت في مناقشتها.

قبل أن أختم التدوينة أحب أن ألقي الضوء على نقطتين:

الأولى: التحرش الجنسي ليس الشكل الوحيد للعنف ضد المرأة في مجتمعنا فهناك العنف المنزلي والختان والحرمان من الميراث والزواج المبكر والقسري وغيرها ولا تختلف أسباب كل هذه المشاكل عن أسباب التحرش التحرش وهذه القضايا لا تقل أهمية عن التحرش الجنسي ولا ينبغي علينا حصر مشاكل المرأة في مشاكلها في المساحات العامة فقط لأنها تتعرض لغيرها من الانتهاكات.

ثانيا: التحرش لا يعاني منه النساء في الشارع فقط. بل أصبحت للأسف ثقافة عامة. كل مستضعف او مختلف يتم التحرش به. الأجانب يتحرش بهم وسود البشرة سواء مصريين أو غير مصريين يلقون نصيبهم المستمر من التعليقات العنصرية. حتى من يرتدي أزياء "غير تقليدية" أو الشخص القصير أكثر من اللازم أو ذوي الإعاقة .. الخ ليس لديهم الحق في التواجد في الشارع بأمان. أول خطوات مواجهة المشكلة هو الاعتراف بها والتعامل الناضج معها. الأمان والسلامة الجسدية والنفسية حق للجميع بدون تمييز.

Rural women in Egypt: Can we afford to neglect them?

Various groups and minorities in Egypt are discriminated against and marginalized. With all the mobilization and debate happening in this post-revolution phase, one group has got very little attention and spotlight. Which group in Egypt suffers from highest rates of illiteracy; bears the heavy burden of utmost poverty; lack essential healthcare greatly jeopardizing their lives; and is not represented in our new parliament at all?

The answer is rural women. This is certainly not a simple minority group as rural females make up about a quarter of Egypt’s 82-million population. However, rural women are not a homogeneous group; they live in different regions and have different socioeconomic conditions. In this light, the most disadvantaged group would be poor, rural women living in Upper Egypt.

Photo Credit: http://orzqyat.wordpress.com/ Blog

Not only rural women do not get enough attention, but rural Egypt as a whole. Despite all the debates brought up during the revolution, little we knew of its impact on rural Egypt. Media outlets keep an urban eye to whatever going on despite evidence of a lot of mobilization happening on the rural front. We do know, however, that rural communities had a sense of solidarity with Tahrir Square, but they couldn’t fully participate because of the need to look after their lands or simply because they could not afford transport. However, there were growing concerns because of the rising costs that seriously undermines the agricultural process and the deteriorating security situation within the villages. In general, there was a sense of a need to put rural issues on the agenda and that reform has to reach the countryside.

The past regimes always asserted that farmers are on top of the development agenda, while the reality was that they worked on undermining the situation and rights of farmers. While Nasser’s regime sided with the villagers and worked to end feudalism and monopoly (despite other flaws), the neoliberal policies introduced in Sadat’s era placed higher value on exporting goods and joining the global market at the expense of local self-sufficiency; and this persisted through Mubarak’s time.

If we go back to look at rural women and their conditions, we’ll soon find out how they fall at the bottom of all welfare indicators. Only 66% of adults are literate in Egypt; Women living in rural areas are most likely to miss school or get the least years of education either for economic or cultural reasons, whereas the sons’ education is prioritized. Missing education is a major barrier for rural women as it shapes their potential; and illiteracy limits their life options such as economic opportunities and health status.

When we look at working conditions, we find that rural women play a crucial role in agriculture and rural development; however they get the least benefit from that process. Women perform many agriculture-related activities and mostly don’t get paid for it. This does not exempt them from the household chores they have to take care of besides their production. Although 41% of people working in agriculture and fisheries in Egypt are women, their right to own land is violated, mostly due to traditions enforced by family and community, and this is a worldwide problem not only in our region. With the increasing male migration to urban areas, more women are in charge of households and face extra burdens to maintain their livelihood.

Sadly too, rural women’s health is much at risk. They usually suffer from malnutrition despite her contribution to the production of food, but they usually favor giving most of the food share to her family. Additionally, they work long exhausting hours in the home and outside and they do not get sufficient health care. The highest fertility rates exist among rural women while they risk losing their lives during pregnancy and delivery because of the lack of access to adequate health services. It’s needless to say that they suffer most from patriarchal values. One of the mortifying realities is that the prevalence of female genital mutilation is highest in rural Upper Egypt and reaches 95% of women despite the ban and the efforts to eradicate this practice.

Rural women are also excluded from the decision making process. They don’t have representation on the local (agricultural associations, etc.) or national level (government, parliament, etc.). We don’t hear those women’s stories and they’re not empowered to advocate for their causes. We need to direct more attention to those women and their lives. New Women Foundation and Rising Voices has ran this project to convey the voices of rural women, listen to their stories!

With the dire conditions facing rural women (not only in Egypt but in various world regions), we need to reevaluate our priorities. The United Nations has chosen rural women as this year’s theme for International Women’s Day to help highlight the cause. Mervat El Tallawy, the newly-elected president of the recently-revived National Women’s Council presented a statement on the topic at the 56^th session of the UN Commission on the status of women, and pledged to push their issue to the top of the agenda. Would those promises be realized? How much more can we afford to ignore rural women and rural issues in general while half of our population lives in rural areas?

The writer Maria Golia has made the case for the rural side of Egypt in her recent article.

“In the absence of intelligent top-down strategies, change must come from the bottom up. Egypt’s revolution began in cities, but the nation’s life literally relies on its grassroots. Think of this next time you slice a tomato: Unless Egypt’s head remembers its body, its stomach will go empty and it will lose its heart.”

Samira, the military and feminism!

On Wednesday February 8^th, Egypt’s head of military court has made a statement urging media outlet to halt the coverage on the “Virginity Tests” case. This decision came at the backdrop of the unraveling court case filed by Samira Ibhrahim.  But who is Samira Ibrahim and why does the Military Forces want to ban publication on the matter?

Samira was arrested in Tahrir Square during a protest on 9 March and was subjected to virginity testing alongside other six women in military prison.  Initially, the military generals adamantly tried to deny that those tests took place. It wasn’t until a CNN interview where an anonymous general admitted it. Later, in a meeting with Amnesty International, the Head of the Military Intelligence Department explained that those tests are performed to “protect the army against possible allegations of rape”. The statement reveals that not only such tests already occur, but it was a routine procedure by prison officials to avoid female prisoners’ claims of sexual violence. This statement is of much concern because we don’t know the extent of abuse female detainees are exposed to while perpetrators are easily getting away with it.

Human rights groups in Egypt filed a case in front of the administrative court on behalf of Samira Ibrahim, the only detainee who decided to defy the authority, speak up and take it to court despite the threats she was receiving.  Late December, the court made its historic rule to ban “Virginity Tests” and deemed it a violation of both Egyptian constitution & legislation and the International Agreements that Egypt is party to. The court rule is considered an official acknowledgement that those tests actually took place and that those responsible must be brought to justice. However further legal developments were not as promising, as only one military doctor has been brought to justice in front of military court, notorious for its lack of independence and fair trial procedures. The charges against that doctor were changed from sexual assault to public indecency which amounts to much less punitive action. Moreover, the case has been postponed several times and the fate of her case is still unclear.

Virginity tests come as part of a long list of abuses by the military forces against Egyptians. Since the military council of armed forces took charge of the country after Mubarak stepping down, military and police forces have used excessive force against protesters which resulted in hundreds dead and many thousands injured. The violence against peaceful protesters is one of the strategies upheld by these forces to discourage participation in protests and acts of resistance to military rule. Women have been targeted during those demonstrations by excessive violence and the other weapon that state knows how to use well: the shaming of women.

For an array of political, socioeconomic, and historic reasons, our country is suffering from deeply-held patriarchal values and “honor”-based practices. This is manifested in many ways including the justification of gender-based violence against women. Women who do not conform to that system are punished, and they carry the burden of the blame. The state uses this value system to kill the revolutionary spirit. They know that by targeting women, they will strike the chords of patriarchy that affects both women and men. Women will be blamed, shamed and traumatized. Men will also be shamed when they know they were not able to help their women and attain redress for their violated bodies. Another clear example of this is when women protesters were brutally and sexually assaulted while protesting the constitutional amendments in May 25^th, 2005, which was called the Black Wednesday.

The state has failed to deliver to protect women against violence whether in private or public spheres. Women in Egypt suffer from high rates of sexual harassment, domestic violence, widespread cultural practices such as female genital mutilation and “honor”-motivated violence. Virginity tests were used to humiliate those protesters and enforce the idea that these are morally loose women for taking the street. If we look back at the history of such tests, we will find many such examples in history even dating back to biblical sources. In a recent article, historian Khaled Fahmy offers a Foucaultian analysis of the history of the state introducing virginity tests into Egypt to prove that it’s a state tool to control the people, rather than ensuring their health and welfare.

Indeed such virginity tests are considered by human rights groups and the scientific community to be spurious.  Tracing back the origin of those tests to its roots, we will find that they are based in outdated medical beliefs. They are mere tools to control women’s sexuality and behavior. The case of virginity tests has created an unprecedented debate about such practice, and produced a state of solidarity with Samira and the other victims. However, the resistance is not only coming from the military institution. Dr. Fakhry Saleh, the head of the forensic authority in Egypt made a statement against the use of virginity tests at the hands of the military and described it as sexual assault, but he stopped short of criticizing the tests themselves. He further added that it’s the responsibility of the forensic authority to check female hymens, and not any other doctors! Furthermore, the Egyptian Medical Syndicate sent lawyers to defend the military doctors accused of performing the tests. I n reaction, human rights groups have sent a letter to the Syndicate urging them to completely ban the practice as it constitutes a violation of medical ethics. The medical syndicate has justified its move as a normal procedure for defending its members. They said that the procedure shouldn’t have been performed by military personnel, rather by specialized gynecologists only! Up until now, the syndicate has not denounced the tests themselves. Despite the presumed independence of such institutions as the forensic authority and the medical syndicate, their history is full of politicization and manipulation by the state. The challenge then is not only about opposing state authority but authority in its various forms.

As the debate about the virginity continues, many questions are raised. While feminists and human rights activists are excited about the growing public debate about the notorious tests, changes in attitudes about virginity and women’s rights are slower to be achieved. As virginity tests have become part of revolutionary jargon, the public position on virginity tests practiced in private remains to be assessed. Until now, women are subjected to virginity testing on their wedding night or on other circumstances to prove their chastity. Using blood stained sheets as proof of chastity is not uncommon in Egypt. The harsher version is where the first “defloration” of a woman is performed by other related women via inserting fingers covered with a piece of cloth to obtain “the blood of honor”.

What Samira did is an unprecedented act of defiance. She is challenging the very systems of patriarchy that the military institution are enforcing, which is probably why the military court would like to silence media coverage on the matter. Once again, the intimidation tactics prove its failure and they makes people more determined to claim their rights. Interestingly, in her public interviews Samira does not use the discourse of women rights and most probably she is not supposed to. Her perseverance in the face of the “council of failure and shame” as she likes to call the military council is an unquestionable act of feminism that inspires me and many others. She deserves nothing but our deep respect and solidarity. 

Watch the video testimony of Samira Ibrahim with English subtitles here. 

When Women Are Undressed!

In the post-revolutionary Egypt, several women were undressed, whether willfully or against their consent. A varying degree of uproar usually ensues. It’s really curious to witness the frenzy that happens when women clothes are dropped.

The West (with all the implications and connotations of this word) and Western media, obsessed as it with the oppressed Arab/Muslim women, is usually enthused to cover and report on what happens to women in the Arab world; demanding their liberation; lamenting their marginalization. While here, the obsession with female body overrides the debate, making it skewed, if not outright unfair.

The first such incident was the sexual assault on Lara Logan in Tahrir on the day of ousting Mubarak. International media were all over it. Logan went on 60 Minutes describing her ordeal. The media here largely ignored it; either too overwhelmed with Mubarak stepping down and the prospects for a new Egypt, or using the same excuse of “Let’s not tarnish the national image”.

In March, we had the infamous virginity tests that were conducted by the military.  There was definitely a case of shock when such news came out. Not as much hype as there is now because back then lots of people were still in denial about the fact that the military is against the revolution. They just didn’t believe our honored army would commit such a crime. Some others thought those girls had it coming. “Who told them to go protest and spend the night on the street anyway?!”

Later on in May, there was a fiasco of another sort. Religious frenzies, aka the Salafis, well known for their strict interpretation of Islam and limited worldview, were on the hunt for yet another woman named Abeer. A Christian woman, had fled her Upper Egyptian village and left her family behind for a fling with a Muslim man. She converted to Islam in order to be able to get a divorce and marry the Muslim. The Salafis presumed that Abeer was held in a church in Imbaba which resulted in an ugly flare of sectarian violence and led to about a dozen dead and hundreds injured. This incident exemplified how women become tools of asserting power by religious factions; and how controlling women’s sexuality and mobility can be a strong driver of sectarian violence.

Moreover, similar honor-motivated protests were organized by Salafis in order to save women alleged to have converted to Islam. Most of the protesting centered around a woman called Kamilia Shehata. These protests were named “I want my sister Kamilia”, a famous humorous phrase that is now commonly used to mock Salafis and their obsession with their alleged sisters.

The failure of Salafis & other Islamists to produce a proper response, when female protesters were subjected to abuses at the hand of police and military forces, were the center of criticism of many secular/liberal revolutionaries. Those revolutionaries who are struggling to present themselves to the mainstream non-political majority. The word secular has become so stigmatized that most activists chose not to use it. The word "liberal" became all too common to refer to anyone who's not an islamist. The outcry of the liberal/secular against the violence of female protesters was all too real, but the use of that card to trump the islamists was always interesting.

When Salafis chose not to put the photos of female parliamentary runners and decided to replace them with either flowers or their husbands' photos, they received harsh sarcasm from the "liberal" front, for their lack of respect for women. But how did that liberal front really deal with women issues? Did they really advocate for women inclusion everywhere? Women were also excluded in most liberal political forces.

In November, when Aliaa El Mahdy took her clothes off, took a nude photo and posted it on her blog, the international attention reached unbelievable levels. Her controversial act was the talk of everyone and again the media was all over it. Was it a feminist act of rebellion or a miscalculated risk? Regardless of its meaning or motivation, Aliaa's act became the battlefront of debate about women liberation; the limits of freedom; the timing; the reputation of the revolution; the rampant double standards and hypocrisy of the society that rushes to see her naked body yet condemn her act.

Again, the "liberal forces" were confused, if not dismayed, by Aliaa's nudity; either denying her freedom of expression or claiming it compromises the struggle of "liberal forces" to maintain their image. The buzz would have continued, and Aliaa's life would have been more endangered, if it wasn't for the violence that erupted again at Mohamed Mahmoud street and the first round of parliamentary elections. The international and national spheres found other things to worry about.

Most recently, the famous photos above made headlines in several international and local media outlets, and became the heart of another debate. The woman who was brutalized as a punishment for her bravery to protest in the cabinet events became a sensation, not because she was aggressively beaten up or insulted but because her body was exposed.

The angry reaction that immediately followed based the criticism of the military violence on the shame they have caused by exposing her body. It is quite understandable that this act of exposition is associated with shame and violating "honor" more than anything else. But I can't help but wonder, whose shame it is when a woman's body is exposed! Why has it become such a horrendous act? Because we see women's body as a sacred untouchable that should not be violated? What is more violating here, the shame brought about by her brutalization or that caused by her bodily exposition? Which is more shocking, the emotional wounds that she'll have to endure or the fact that world knew the color of her bra?

However, the women march today at Tahrir was a real positive move. Thousands of women from all walks of life, in all sorts of dress showed up in solidarity and to protest the flagrant military violations. The photo below is particularly striking and interesting. This woman is basically saying: "nobody has the right to judge us or question our honor". As the chants said "Egyptian women are a red line", women expressed that any violations of Egyptian women should never be tolerated. It shows that despite the shaming and the victim-blaming, women still reclaim their right to protest and express themselves.

"your eyes are cheap"

It is amazing how women's bodies have such a revealing effect. They can show exactly where people stand on matters like freedom, autonomy and shame. Women's bodies have been the battlefront of so many battles before and will continue to be, but the hypocrisy it reveals never ceases to be powerful.

Opportunistic Islamists and women rights in transitional Egypt

As the revolution managed to throw down Mubarak’s dictatorship, women rights activists find themselves facing yet another threat to the status of women in Egypt. Activists have long been fighting the bureaucracy and the patriarchal culture, now they’re facing a brand new enemy.

Multiple protests have been recently staged in protest of the parents contact law which regulates the rights of divorced parents to see their children. The law allowed women to have custody of their children upon divorce up until the children turn 15 years old then gives the children the right to choose their parent afterwards.

The protests were organized in several places such as The Ministry of Justice, the Azhar, and the Journalists Syndicate with hundreds showing up in protest of this particular law. Several new movements have organized the protests such as “Saving the Family” “Egypt’s Men Revolution” movements and they included hundreds of fathers. The protests also included many Salafis, (members of a hardcore Islamist group).

According to the protesters, the divorced fathers can only see their children for 3 hours a week in a public place and if the mother decline holding the visit, there are no legal punishment for her. The protests called for a chance for the parents to see their children for a longer time and to change the age of mother’s custody to 9 years for girls and 7 years for boys.

The organizers and participants of the protests accused two institutions, namely the National Council for Women and the Ministry of Family and Population of corrupting the social life in Egypt and demanded prosecution of different female figures that were previously responsible for these institutions including Suzan Mubarak.

The dangerous thing is the language used during the protests calling for an Islamic state and full implementation of the Islamic law as they called for scrapping what they called “Suzan Mubarak laws” in referral to women-promoting laws introduced during Mubarak era after years of campaigning from civil society activists, but it’s now carrying the stigma of the old regime. The protesters described these laws as corruptive of family nature, increasing divorce rates, and promoting women’s promiscuity!

In reaction to the protests, the grand mufti of Egypt has announced that this law will be reconsidered according to religious jurisprudence. Also, the Justice Minster’s deputy has also announced that the contact law will be amended so that fathers can host their children up to 48 hours; and banning the travel of children from divorced parents unless both parents consent.

These statements have outraged women rights activists calling these demands for revoking the laws as opportunistic and unfair. They argued that despite the flaws, these laws did their own good and helped promote women’s status in society. It’s also argued that these laws were imposed on the society as a whole as there was no proper legislation process in place during the old regime’s rule. The activists demanded the laws remain in place until the legislative bodies in Egypt restore their function and have a proper process of debate and discussion.

While I was always critical of the way such women rights institutions worked whether in terms of corruption or the way they used to introduce laws without properly addressing the community’s culture and concerns, many of the laws that were introduced under Mubarak’s rule as important and necessary steps towards women and children’s rights. Different rights were granted by these laws, such as facilitating women’s ability to get divorced, to pass on their nationality to their children, to issue birth certificate for their children even if the fathers decline paternity, protection against FGM, rising the age of marriage to 18 years old.

The deeply seated patriarchy in our culture causes many to see some of the rights in negative light and feel they’re corruptive of society. The association between institutions that created these laws, whether governmental or NGOs, to foreign donors enforces the negative image they have in some corners of the society.

It is notable to note that patriarchy here isn’t attributed to Islam as many in the West like to believe. It permeates in all layers of Egyptians, whether Muslim or Christian, however patriarchy usually uses religion as an excuse to perpetuate its values.

These laws and issues affect the society in so many ways. I am hopeful that this critical transition period will not cause any compromise in women’s status. Rightly, this is not the proper time to change any laws as we do not have a parliament yet. I am hopeful that the New Egypt would allow for more discussion and debate and that more moderate voices will join and support promoting the rights of women in Egypt.

Prophet Mohamed and Child Marriage?

Today, I was in Cairo University participating in a youth event for NGO employment and volunteering opportunities. I was happy to see so many youth interested in the reproductive health awareness initiative we’re doing. We were distributing booklets and flyers about those topics and things were going great and smooth until that guy showed up.


One of the flyers was on child marriage explaining the social and health implications of such practice. I never thought it could provoke people because family planning and HIV were the foremost topics that do. The guy asked me how come I want people to delay marriage until 18 while it is completely natural, and his own sister is married at the age of 12! He went on to say that old people used to marry at this age and no one ever complained, wondering why we want to change “the nature” of the society. He even said he’s engaged to a 15 year old and they are about to marry soon. He said that the practice is common in his hometown (rural lower Egypt) and that they marry without issuing official papers until they turn 18 then they declare it legally.


Away from rural Egypt, I took the discussion to twitter, I was even surprised by another Egyptian living in Canada who found increasing marriage age to 18 was exaggerated and unnecessary. He said that early marriage has no health or psychological implications. He even said that world suffers from many problems because of delayed marriage! It’s scientifically known however that early marriage jeopardizes the health of both mothers and children, causing more risk of abortion and maternal mortality.


Back to the rural person, what made me unable to argue with him was the fact that he used Prophet Mohammed as a justification for early marriage as it is known that he married his wife Aisha at a very young age. That was basically why he believed such awareness efforts were corruptive of “good societies”. He said he saw Prophet Mohamed as a role model for life and that all Muslims should take this view. While I tried to argue that there’s no comparison between that day’s society and ours, etc it evidently seemed useless.


This conversation made me think of culture and how it impacts people. While this person is educated, he still thinks that all those practices are natural and pose no health threat. He places no value to science over what he was raised to. Is it that his perception of health concepts is limited? What about the rights of those girls? Their right to freely choose their husbands, to finish their education, and to happily live their adolescent years. These are all necessary factors to form a woman able to raise healthy children.


Yes, the conditions rural Egyptians live in are different and women carry more responsibilities from an early age which make them mature earlier. The community there sees women’s sole function is to marry and raise children; however I can’t help but see it as a violation of these young girls to develop themselves fully.


I’d like to think that these two guys were an exception, however studies show that 11% of currently female youth in rural areas were married before age 16, and 30% before 18.




There is a law against marriage before age 18 and awareness efforts taking place, but these kinds of attitudes have to be dealt with carefully since they’re deeply embedded in the culture. Religious leads have to play a key role in countering such beliefs and attitudes.


Child marriage is obviously declining in Egypt, there’s more to be done, much more!

The Shackles of Virginity

Egypt and a lot more Arab countries are now witnessing an unprecedented case of vibrancy and mobilization in what is called the Arab spring. As I said before such state of revolution are not only political, but transcend it to personal barriers as well. It is at times like these when we should reconsider where we stand and where we want to be in the future.

Patriarchy is one of the biggest problems we have and it affects the lives of women and men alike. Women are controlled in different ways. They have limited options; their bodies are under control; which manifests itself in various forms, ranging from dress style to female genital mutilation.

Another way to control women's sexuality is keeping their virginity. An incredibly huge amount of pressure is placed upon women to stay virgin. Society has constructed several methods to make sure that women stay virgins until marriage.

In Egypt, a practice called dukhla baladi used to and still exists in some parts of the country, especially remote rural areas. On the wedding night, the bride and groom are accompanied by members of their family. The bride is usually held down and a woman inserts her finger in the vagina after folding her finger with a piece of cloth to receive the blood that results from the breakage of the hymen. This blood is usually called the blood of honor.

Although this practice is on the wane, other practices exists to ensure the virginity of female on their wedding night. The bride prepares a white piece of cloth, commonly called al-mahrama, is placed beneath her during the first intercourse.. The blood received on the cloth is later displayed to family members of the husband and wife, as a proof of virginity.

What's interesting is that it doesn't only place pressure on women, but also on men. It proves the man was virile enough to do his task. It is not uncommon that men do not perform well on the wedding night due to all the pressure, the lack of experience and sexual education.

Sometimes the girls do not bleed, not because they lost their virginity but because the hymen could be elastic or has pores which allows penetration without significant bleeding. This could cause serious troubles. In many cases the bride is taken to a gynecologist to check on her hymen and if it was "used" before. This test can determine the bride's fate forever. Either her dignity is restored or she's tossed to a life of shame, and in some cases it results in "honor crimes".

I was struck when I talked to family members that this tradition is alive and well, even among upper class and educated people, perhaps more commonly in Upper Egypt, where more conservative gender values exist.

What struck me though is to find origins for such practice in the Jewish tradition. In The Bible, Deuteronomy 22: 13-21 recounts how men should handle whether finding out their wives were virgins or not. It also mentions using a piece of cloth to prove the bride's honor but in this case, it is shown in front of the elders of the town.

What disturbs me most is the extent to which such personal and delicate affair can become the center of attention of the whole family. Such interference undermines the will of the newly married couple and can sabotage their private relationship. I personally believe that these matter should be only handled within the couple themselves.

Society should realize that it is not the hymen that determines honor. Honor is a broader concept that entails honesty, integrity and trust. Women can have sex without losing their hymen. Also, The society must stop the double standards about male and female virginity. While female virginity is a necessity, men are forgiven if they have pre-marital sex.

It is now up to the young generations to revolt against those traditions and choose to have their private sexual life, away from the interference of the old guardians. They should be able to discuss and share their feelings and concerns.

Once again, revolutions are not only political, but also personal!

Do We Know How to Handle Sexual Harassment?

News came out yesterday about a draft law that has been proposed by the government issuing harsher punishments for those who commit sexual harassment and rape crimes, up to the point of death sentence.

The new law tackles various points: adding telephone and the internet to different media through which harassment can occur; and giving more conditions when rape convicts get harsher punishments such as reconsidering victim's age and cases where the victim has been raped by more than one convicts.

This is a reminder of a similar law which just passed a few days ago for combating thuggery. The news of that law was alarming to me as well as many other human rights activists. The move towards stricter law for thuggery was met with a lot of criticism. Just before this particular law was passed, the military forces cracked down on Tahrir protesters, many were detained and tortured. These protesters were claimed to be thugs which puts us at a dilemma of how to determine who's a thug and who's a protester, especially because we are at a time where military courts (where people do not enjoy their full rights of fair trial) have been handling these cases.

Back to sexual harassment, it is quite obvious there's a problem with the way we're dealing with this issue. The phenomenon which began surfacing rather recently in Egypt is rampant. But is issuing stricter punishments the solution for this multifaceted problem? Here's why I don't think so:

I find the process highly questionable. The ministerial council pushes for more punishments for sexual harassment and the supreme military council is happy to enforce these, because this is the language the military best understands. In normal circumstances the ministerial council can propose draft laws and submit them to the parliament to discuss them further. Either way there need to be more public debate about it.

Photo Credit: Amr Nabil/AP/File

Drafting laws without counseling civil society bodies or human rights experts is pretty concerning. These laws have to be compatible with human rights law, and there need to be clear definition and good consensus on what sexual assault entails.

I am more concerned with how to enforce this law, rather than the punishments themselves. There are big question marks on how to get these cases reported? We have a culture of silence about these crimes. It's hard for people to report them because a huge stigma can be placed upon them. Most women who face sexual harassment or even rape never report it to the police or even to their families because their lives can be devastated.

We have this culture of intimidating criminals by increasing punishments. I don’t really believe it works. To be able to overcome a societal problem, we need to handle its underlying causes. All those handling those crimes need to be sensitized about it and fully aware of its implications. By engaging different people in the process of ending the phenomenon of sexual harassment, real achievement can happen on that front.

Faggots for Whores? Or What happened to Women March in Tahrir

Although I am still deeply agitated over what happened today at the women march today in Tahrir, I have to give my personal account as a male who went there to support women’s rally for freedom and democracy.

First, since the call for the march on Facebook, we have got a lot of negative comments either being sarcastic of the whole thing or others who want us to postpone it for later. I am really trying to comprehend the “Let’s save it for later” argument. Is it really concern for stability? Or is it internalized patriarchy that sees women issue as trivial?

So we get together in Tahrir, a few hundreds of women and men. We started to distribute flyers mentioning our demands which were:

I know the demands would be controversial and we expected strong debates at the protest, but what happened in reality was much worse than any of us expected. 

The flyer had the following demands:

1. Women's participation in shaping Egypt's constitutional, legal and political future.

2. A new civil constitution that respects citizenship, espouses equality and abolishes discrimination.

3. Amending laws so that it give full equality and rights, including personal status law.

4. Not allowing women's reproductive role to take over her participation in public and private life.

5. Establishing law for criminalization of violence against women inside and outside their home.

6. The constitution must allow women to run for presidency.

We started chanting for women rights. Just as we started chanting a group of couple hundred men started gathering and then started the chant race! They said: The man is a man and the woman is a woman; you are the children of Suzan Mubarak; Go home women!

We tried to chant back singing the national anthem and saying “Men and women are one hand”. They seemed very provoked by our mere existence and their looks were full of sarcasm and ridicule. Apparently the possibility of women running for presidency was beyond their misogynous ego.

The shocking part is that they used Islamic chants against us saying “Women’s voice is a shame”, “why didn’t God send female prophets?” This was quickly followed by rounding us up and pushing against us and ugliness followed. Women and girls were groped, their hair got pulled; dirty harassers hands were all over their bodies. I did my best to protect my friends and we got into physical and verbal fights.

I was called a faggot defending whores. I was told I wasn’t Egyptian for doing this.

So now. Some accuse us of being too controversial. Some accuse us of using the wrong time and place to voice our grievances. Until when would we remain silent? And till when we will be too shy to call for women rights? I am not sorry I called for justice. I am just really appalled but what my friends had to go through. We managed to get our voices heard for once, and it won’t be the last time.

I hope what happened today will shed some light on the unacceptable attitudes towards women. More men need to speak out for women too. This will definitely help our cause.

 The battle is hard. Mubarak’s regime and authoritarianism destroyed people’s sense of diversity. It may take years to actually change attitudes. I think we are up for it though. 

Egyptian Women Are Coming!

Tomorrow is the International Women Day, but let’s forget international for now and look at what’s happening in Egypt.

Egyptian women have been a crucial part of the revolution, even by helping planning when Asmaa Mahfouz called for protests and spread it through social media. Women fought against the regime alongside men and fell victim to brutality and murder at the hands of police and thugs.

Now women are moving, sobering up and breaking the taboos of patriarchy and organizing a protest in Tahrir for democracy and women rights. The initiative didn’t come from NGOs or any institutions, but was called for by men and women; activists, academics, civil society workers, and others. Jan 25 revolution proves to be breaking more barriers than previously thought.

Women demands range from abandoning FGM and sexual harassment to being able to run for president. Some demands stir controversy more than others though; especially when women call for ending polygamy or equal inheritance! The demands are also political asking for more representation in government and parliament. 

Controversy also comes from different grounds. Sally Zahran whose photo became one of the central images of revolution martyrs and whom I personally saw perform in a beautiful piece called Cairo Complaints Choir, caused a debate when some people asked for avoiding using her photo with her hair uncovered and spread another one of her wearing the veil. Also, people debated whether Sally died in Tahrir or not, and her mother appeared on TV to say that she fell out of balcony after a fight with her family when they ordered her to stay home and avoid protesting. The true story will never surface I guess. 

The fact that all that controversy was focused on the beautiful daring Sally reveals a problem and discomfort with free women like her. Would the same happen if Sally was a guy?

So far the event seems to be stirring debate, mostly among women themselves who are debating whether women are oppressed or not, and whether they should go out to call for their right nor not, and when. This is all healthy and hopefully a step towards the long awaited new Egypt.