Men & Women Agree Sexual Assault Common in Egypt

Boys Will Be Boys

Women in Egypt Face Serious Harassment Every Day NYTimes

AOC has previously covered the 2008 study by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights in which 83 perent of Egyptian women reported sexual harassment and 62 percent of Egyptian men agreed that they had sexually harassed women.

Today’s NYTimes picks up the story of Egyptian women moving beyond the numbers to real life experiences. Warda won’t enter an elevator in Egypt, without a woman accompanying her. The elevator often goes out in Egypt, leaving Warda caught in darkness with a strange man.

“We didn’t really look at each other; I was reading some messages on my phone,” she said. The electricity went out.

Then I felt the hand of the man in my pants. I asked him to stop, but he said I better shut up or he would take his knives out,” she said, fighting back tears. He opened his pants and pressed himself against her for what felt like hours, she said. Luckily, the lights came back on. “He stopped and let go of me. I just didn’t want to look into his face.”

Hillary Clinton's Unyielding Commitment to Women's Empowerment

Stephanie Sinclair for Newsweek Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Abu Dhabi in January.RedTracker| A new Gallup poll reports that US Secy of State Hillary Clinton is the most popular person in the Obama Administration.

“Clinton’s popularity may be partly due to the nature of the secretary of state position, which is somewhat above the fray of partisan politics and focused on defending US interests globally,” writes Lydia Saad of the Gallup polling organization. But Ms. Saad also notes that Clinton “is seen in a favorable light by 45 percent of those who separately say they disapprove of the job Obama is doing as president.” via CSM

According to a recent Newsweek story on Hillary, two years into her tenure, she has out-traveled all of her predecessors, with 465,000 air miles and 79 countries under her belt. Secy Clinton is insistent that her ‘Hillary Doctrine’ is simple: the betterment of life for women and girls around the world.

Newsweek paints a portrait of Clinton as fully engaged, citing her presence on Egyptian news site Masrawy.com. Her presence resulted in more than 6,500 questions in three days—from young people across Egypt.

“We hope,” she said, “that as Egypt looks at its own future, it takes advantage of all of the people’s talents”—Clinton shorthand for including women.

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US Secy of State Hillary Clinton Tours Egypt's Tahrir Square

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Egypt’s Tahrir Square on March 16, 2011. Photo ReutersBeyond the Veil| The Christian Science Monitor reports that a coalition of six youth groups that are movers and shakers in Egypt’s revolutionary refused to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Egypt. The group announced on their Facebook page that the decision was “based on her negative position from the beginning of the revolution and the position of the US administration in the Middle East.”

Secretary Clinton’s early response that the Egyptian (Mubarak-led) government was “Looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.”  We must note that the tear gas canisters used against the protesters were stamped “Made in the USA.”

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New Calls in Cairo's Tahrir Square 'Go Home and Wash Clothes'

Beyond the Veil| It wasn’t a good day yesterday for the women of Egypt, the ones gathered in Cairo’s Tarhir Square for a ‘Million Woman March’. Perhaps a few hundred women and men showed up to celebrate International Women’s Day in a hastily organized effort.

The glorious days of February 2011 were gone. Dozens of men and women engaged in heated arguments with the men saying the women have enough rights already. Reports are that some of the discussions were polite and others aggressive.

Christian Science Monitor reports that a sheikh from Al Azhar was hoisted on the mens’ shoulders, chanting:

“Go home, go wash clothes,” yelled some of the men. “You are not married; go find a husband.” Others said, “This is against Islam.” To the men demonstrating with the women, they yelled “Shame on you!”

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