Israel Matzav

If you're a woman, stay away from Egypt

A women's rights center in Cairo has found that 62% of Egyptian men harass women, saying it is justified by their 'tight and revealing' clothes. And apparently the men who harass women work overtime at it, because an astounding 98% of foreign women who have visited Egypt claim to have been harassed during their stay.

Half of local and foreign women surveyed were sexually harassed in some way, according to the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights study. Ninety-eight percent of the foreign women, who visited Egypt for tourist, educational and professional reasons, said they experienced sexual harassment during their stay.

Furthermore, 88% of respondents, women and men, had witnessed an incident involving sexual harassment.

Of the Egyptians men surveyed, 62.4% said they had perpetrated and/or "continue to perpetrate" harassment of women.

The sexual harassment committed by Egyptian men included touching without permission, staring, making insulting sexual comments and exposing their genitals to women.

Fifty-three percent of the male respondents said women were to blame for sexual harassment because they enjoyed it and because they dressed in revealing clothing. Most women who were harassed did not file a complaint with the police and most incidents took place in the street, public transportation or tourist sites.

Obsession anyone?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:09 PM