60% male poll respondents admit to abusing women in Egypt

Majority of women who took part in a survey in Egypt said they have been victims of harassment.

While 60 per cent of men responded saying they had harassed women. Some men resorted to abusing females at regular intervals - on a monthly or weekly basis.
 
Amsek Motahresh – an Egyptian Association set up to combating harassment of women - announced the results of its survey which revealed 83 per cent of respondents had been abused verbally or physically at some point in their life.

Seventy per cent of them were in hijab when they were harassed, and only 13 per cent were in ‘modern ‘ clothes, it added.
 
The Amsek Motahresh Association, set up by Egyptian girls after the revolution, conducted the survey including 2,800 men and an equal number of women.
 
The Association aims to educate women and girls about their rights and encourage them to report the culprits to police.
 
At present, the association is in the process of identifying areas of rampant harassment and concentrate on educating residents there.
 
According to Al-Masry Al Youm, during the Eid Al Adha holidays there were 700 cases of harassment reported.
 
Leila Al Rifai, social researcher, said such cases increased during holidays. She said today culprits go scot-free, unlike in the past when the accused were punished severely. In most cases their heads were shaved.
 
Eba’a Al-Tamimi, an Association member, also said harassment is not punishable under law and that needs to be corrected.
 
She added that in most cases women shy away from reporting cases of abuse fearing ridicule.
 
Meanwhile, a BBC poll asked audience if women should strike back at the accused. 70 per cent respondents said women should take on the accused, while 30 per cent said women should adopt the legal course.

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