Egypt: Misogyny and Sexual Assault in "Revolutionary" Celebrations

[Debater Slayer]

During so-called "revolutionary" celebrations in Egypt's Tahrir Square, several cases of sexual assault have been reported, with more almost certainly happening but not being reported.

Egyptian police on Monday arrested seven men for allegedly sexually assaulting a 19-year-old student during celebrations marking the inauguration of the country's new president in Cairo's central Tahrir Square a day earlier, security officials said.

The student was hospitalized after she was attacked on Sunday, the officials said. They gave no details on her condition and spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

One of the victims has been said to be a niqabi woman, whom some people have tried to justify the assault against because of her supposed affiliation with Islamists.

And to further cast light on the problem of misogyny and sexual assault apologetics—albeit inadvertently—a news anchor made the following comment regarding the incidents:

The video has shocked and outraged Egyptians, along with another clip posted on social networking sites. That video shows a correspondent for a private TV network reporting from Tahrir and telling her anchorwoman in the studio that there were several cases of sexual harassment in the square during the celebrations.

The anchorwoman laughs and says it's “because they are happy.” However, that anchorwoman, Maha Bahnassy of Al-Nahar television, denied that her comment was in response to the harassment incidents reported by the journalist. “I was, along with my guests, commenting on people's joy, not the harassment,” she said on her Facebook page.

Source of both excerpts.

I'm firmly convinced that no change of government will be able to noticeably reform the country as long as people, especially women, are not protected from such blatant crimes and apologetics attempting to justify them. When sexual assault against a woman is defended by some people on the basis that she is aligned with Islamism or any other political or religious ideology, it seems clear to me that the problem is far greater than who is or isn't in charge of the government.

 

[Flankerl]

I remember there were also two female western reporters who were raped.

 

[icehorse]

It's a good thing there's no connection to religious ideology!

 

[MysticSang'ha]

During so-called "revolutionary" celebrations in Egypt's Tahrir Square, several cases of sexual assault have been reported, with more almost certainly happening but not being reported.

One of the victims has been said to be a niqabi woman, whom some people have tried to justify the assault against because of her supposed affiliation with Islamists.

And to further cast light on the problem of misogyny and sexual assault apologetics—albeit inadvertently—a news anchor made the following comment regarding the incidents:



Source of both excerpts.

I'm firmly convinced that no change of government will be able to noticeably reform the country as long as people, especially women, are not protected from such blatant crimes and apologetics attempting to justify them. When sexual assault against a woman is defended by some people on the basis that she is aligned with Islamism or any other political or religious ideology, it seems clear to me that the problem is far greater than who is or isn't in charge of the government.

Typical of feminists. You all are only focused on what happens to women, and don't care what happens to men. Oh, and don't say "misogyny" around here. There are men who take it personally and don't like feminists like you saying it.

/sarcasm

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Oh wait....I'm not done with the mockery of sentiments that argue against rape culture...

Well at least she didn't ask for her it from the way she dressed. But what did she expect going into a place like that?

/sarcasm for real this time

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Typical of feminists. You all are only focused on what happens to women, and don't care what happens to men. Oh, and don't say "misogyny" around here. There are men who take it personally and don't like feminists like you saying it.

/sarcasm

.

.

.

Oh wait....I'm not done with the mockery of sentiments that argue against rape culture...

Well at least she didn't ask for her it from the way she dressed. But what did she expect going into a place like that?

/sarcasm for real this time

Well, at least I'm sure this woman would be gladdened to know that some American woman was able to exploit her ordeal by using it as fodder for her rhetoric.

 

[EiNsTeiN]

Egypt needs a huge social reform before fixing the political system.

 

[YmirGF]

It's good to see the so-called "Arab Spring" unfolding in such a wonderful manner.


Allahu Akbar, baby.

 

[EiNsTeiN]

You don't expect the accumulative corruption of decades to end after a single uprising.

It's good to see the so-called "Arab Spring" unfolding in such a wonderful manner.

How is that good?

 

[Debater Slayer]

You don't expect the accumulative corruption of decades to end after a single uprising.

It wasn't very long ago that more than one Islamist broadcaster said that some of the women who were stripped and beaten while taking part in protests "asked for it" and didn't show any sympathy toward them. It seems to me that the problem is cultural and not mainly caused by any specific regime, although corruption in the government certainly doesn't help to reform the problems that are present in the country's culture.

 

[EiNsTeiN]

It wasn't very long ago that more than one Islamist broadcaster said that some of the women who were stripped and beaten while taking part in protests "asked for it" and didn't show any sympathy toward them. It seems to me that the problem is cultural and not mainly caused by any specific regime, although corruption in the government certainly doesn't help to reform the problems that are present in the country's culture.

Agreed.

By corruption, I don't just mean political corruption. We've been suffering from social and cultural corruptions, mainly.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

See …

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[Debater Slayer]

See …

[youtube]bO12X1nhzzk[/youtube]​

Thank you for posting this. What happened to Lara Logan shouldn't be forgotten. Such incidents are evidence that reform is seriously needed in Egyptian society.

 

[Debater Slayer]

Agreed.

By corruption, I don't just mean political corruption. We've been suffering from social and cultural corruptions, mainly.

Definitely. I don't think changing governments will be of much benefit as long as no considerable efforts are made to reform the culture itself.

 

[EiNsTeiN]

Definitely. I don't think changing governments will be of much benefit as long as no considerable efforts are made to reform the culture itself.

True, but in the same time, the successive corrupted governments never allowed for a social reform because, certainly, this would have affected their power.

It's the chicken or the egg dilemma. You don't know whether to start by fixing the society or reforming the political system.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Thank you for posting this. What happened to Lara Logan shouldn't be forgotten.

Nor should the fact that she was saved by enormously brave and fully observant Muslim women.

 

[Debater Slayer]

Nor should the fact that she was saved by enormously brave and fully observant Muslim women.

I agree. The stereotype some people repeat that all Middle Eastern women, especially religiously devout ones, are weak and subservient is part of the problem and actually contributes to fostering misogynistic stereotypes, in my opinion.