The Problem of Sexual Harassment

WARNING:
**This post is not going to be funny, and despite my nature I cannot find an inch of humor in these experiences. It may even be a trigger for people who have experienced sexual violence, so please don't read on if you have trauma associated with these issues.**

     Defining harassment is difficult, because there are many forms that I can pinpoint. For the purposes of this post, I will define sexual harassment as the subtle and overt forms of negative sexual attention I receive on a daily basis. To make it easier for everyone to understand I will create a "level" system to lead up to the more severe forms of street harassment that I have personally encountered. These include Level One harassment which are by far the most frequent: intense oggling from men on the street, a probing kind of violation. If you haven't experience it before, it's as if every man passing you by is looking at you naked, which is extremely unnerving and creepy. Other Level One forms often occur in taxis: personal questions about being married, asking for phone numbers, and even their attempts to touch you. In American culture, having a man touch my hand is a non-issue, but understanding the cultural context here in Egypt is important. A man should not and will not touch a woman he respects. Therefore, if an Egyptian man is touching you in any way, (unless you know him well), he is disrespecting you. Level Two I would consider to be men spewing lewd and inappropriate comments at me (calling me a whore in Arabic or making kissing noises/sexual grunts). I've been yelled at out of car windows (things I don't understand thanks to my elementary knowledge of Egyptian colloquial) and often hear a cacophony of kissing noises from random men on street corners. Level Three is being followed by a man or packs of boys who are only encouraged by being ignored and/or shooed away. Within my first week of living in Maadi, I was approached by a man who I thought was going to ask me for directions (because he asked if I spoke English), and instead he asked me for sex. I had no idea what to do so I protested in English and started walking away very quickly, but noticed that he was trailing behind me for a block. That's when I broke into a run toward my apartment. The next incident was when I was with my mother in Alexandria, and approximately three teenage boys started following me and asking me questions in English and getting way too close for comfort. All I could do was hold my mom's hand and try not to cry. Level Four I would characterize as hostile and dangerous, and are rarer but still happen more than necessary. Level Four is what happened to me last night. My roommate and I were walking back from dinner at a restaurant down the road from our apartment when a car of Egyptian teenage boys started to follow us and flirtatiously call out to us. We ignored them, and they drove ahead of us. We thought they were gone, but a few blocks later they reappeared and started yelling more aggressively at us and started moaning and jeering in our direction. Mind you, this was on a busy street. I was so angry that I screamed "Imshi", which means "go away". They had a good laugh at my ability to say this in Arabic, but I thought they got the picture and drove away down the busy street. That's when my roommate and I turned into our dark side street to walk the two blocks to our apartment building. Because of shoddy construction and garbage, sidewalks are basically unusuable so we were walking on the edge of the street.  We had no idea that they were still trailing us until a car revved up to probably 50 or 60 mph aimed directly at our backs, getting within inches of hitting us (on purpose) and then the boys sped away laughing. At this point we were shaken, but little did we know that they had more in store for us, because they were waiting towards the end of block, partially in an alley, like spiders waiting for their prey. We were already too far out of hearing range for the police at the beginning of the street to help us, and there was no one else on the street. Both of us were frozen on the spot as we saw one boy open the door to come toward us, and a million thoughts went through my head. I thought about how fast I could dash toward the police unit down the street, and if that would be fast enough to outrun about seven teenage boys who were bigger than me. I thought about my dentist's advice, that the best weapon I have is my set of strong teeth. I thought about the mace that I had left behind in New York, because the penalty for using it in Egypt is imprisonment. I thought about how the law is not on women's side here in Egyptian courts. They could twist any kind of assault on us into something that was our fault, that we brought this upon ourselves especially because we are American "sharmoutas", whores. I thought about the fact that these were privileged boys based on the type of luxury car they were driving, so they could probably do anything to us and get away with it. I was thinking about how loud I could scream. Now that I think of it, this is probably the most terrified I've been in Egypt, bar none. Within that second one action could have changed the course of occurrences. The second that that Egyptian boy opened the door, he seemed to rethink his plan of action, and shut the door almost as quickly as he opened it. Satisfied that they had scared the living daylights out of a pair of defenseless American girls, the group drove away.
This episode made me think about the fear that minorities of all kinds, women, dark-skinned people, transgender, and people across the queer spectrum feel when the majority subjects them to similar modes of violent or aggressive harassment. I was lucky in that I was not hurt in any physical way, but I did learn what it feels like to truly be defenseless.
Other Level Four harassment types have not occurred to me, but I have heard about them. One Canadian woman I talked to told me about a man who was watching her in a public street in Maadi and masturbating . This, apparently, is not an uncommon sight. There are also other kinds of harassment, the likes of which I have only heard about: men groping women on the Metro, the solution of which is a women's train car. My opinion on this is that it only puts a band-aid on the problem, and does not get down to the problem of men who cannot control themselves and who have no respect for women. Another example of a Level Four is an incident that occurred in downtown Cairo last year. A bunch of teenage girls and women were leaving a movie theater when about a hundred men and boys descended upon them and started ripping off their hijabs and grabbing at their bodies. For that reason, I do not go downtown. Level Five I would consider rape. Though, unlike the prevalence with which you find impersonal rape (rape by a stranger) in the United States, there is hardly any reports of this kind. Perhaps that is because few women are willing to report it, but there are no incidences of foreign women reporting impersonal rape. In the streets of Cairo, the abuse stops at groping. It's like trading one evil for another, but I would have to say I would rather endure any of Levels 1-4, instead of going through the hell of 5.
Sexual harassment in Egypt is not playful, flirtatious, or flattering. It's almost surreal, because it's so outrageous to hear about the frequency and kind of its occurrences that a person reading about it may think, "Could that really happen?" Yes, it could and it does. It has happened to me, and I am definitely not making it up. These are twisted, hostile, and intimidating acts that make even the strongest women fearful of walking outside. I hate that this happens to me so often, and I am glad that I will be leaving this country soon, because this is really more than I can handle. After a while, it starts to wear a person down. I'm at the point. I'm tired as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!

*** I promise my next post will be more pleasant.