TA3BEER

It is no secret that sexual harassment is a pervasive problem on the streets of Egypt. From inappropriate remarks- to grabbing- to even more serious assaults, women in Egypt have to deal with street harassment on a daily basis. Until recently this problem was rarely discussed and most victims would remain silent out of fear and shame. Not anymore. A recent initiative called Harassmap utilizes new technology to fight this problem: Women can now send an SMS to report sexual harassment on the spot. Alternatively, they can do so my email, Twitter, Facebook, or directly on the Harassmap website. All they have to do is report their location and the type of harassment that occurred and the incident will be placed on an interactive map available online. By going to harassmap.org one can view a map of Egypt containing all the “hotspots” of sexual harassment and read a description about each incident. There are several categories including catcalls, ogling, touching, stalking or following and so forth. One report, for instance, reads: “Five cat calls as im waiting to get a cab at nozha bridge in masr gadida.”

Goals

Harassmap’s slogan is: “Ending the social acceptability of sexual harassment.” It speaks of the biggest problem about sexual harassment- the fact that it is largely tolerated and ignored. Even after the shocking attacks on dozens of women by a crowd of hundreds of men during the celebrations of Eid-al-Fitr in 2006, the state tried to downplay the problem claiming that these were isolated incidents. It was private Egyptian citizens and bloggers who posted online videos of the assaults and publicized the problem, thus breaking the silence and forging a campaign against the harassment of women.

But how effective can such an initiative be? I would argue that although it may not really stop sexual harassment, this initiative is doing exactly what it needs to do- raise awareness about the problem. By placing sexual harassment on the map, it makes this otherwise unspoken of and ignored problem visible and forces the public to confront the issue. It also gives women, who normally find it very difficult to report harassment to the police, a platform to share their story and express their frustration. Moreover, like the activists and bloggers who combined the use of technology with old-fashioned on- the- ground work to mobilize people for protests against their oppressive government, so do the volunteers of Harassmap organize events and outreach programs and work with NGOs to spread the word and get more people involved. The project has recently gained significant publicity and media coverage putting the Egyptian government and police to shame. Hopefully this will force them to do something about the problem of sexual harassment described as “Egypt’s social cancer” by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights.

The Role of Technology

Harassmap utilizes FrontlineSMS and Ushahidi, an open-source software, which was first used to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post-election fallout in 2008. New media and technology are credited for playing a prominent role in the Egyptian revolution. Is it possible that new media and technology can help bring about a new kind of revolution in Egypt- a women’s revolution? Perhaps this suggestions sounds a bit too naïve and ambitious. Tackling a social problem like sexual harassment will not be easy and will require deep societal transformations. As we have seen in the aftermath of the revolution when women are once again being excluded from the political process, it seems that overthrowing a dictator will prove to be easier than changing deeply rooted gender hierarchies and social norms. However we can certainly hope that the wave of activism and citizen engagement that we have been seeing will continue to bring about positive change in Egypt and throughout the Arab world.

By Reneta Dimitrova