Note: An earlier version of this article was published in Arabic in Al Ahram Daily on October 10, 2018.
Two scenes stunned the world recently. The first was of actor Bill Cosby, aka “the American Dad,” being led to prison in handcuffs, having been convicted of raping several women a few years back. Earlier four universities had rescinded the honorary degrees that had been bestowed upon him.
The second scene, which occurred on the same day, was of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s address to the Senate Committee as part of an investigation into sexual assault charges three women had accused Kavanaugh of. Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s was President Trump’s justice nominee to the Supreme Court, a lifetime position that can change how the laws in the US are interpreted. Since then, Kavanaugh has been confirmed as the ninth justice on the Supreme Court.
These two incidents highlighted the rampant wave of sexual misconduct charges made against dozens of reputable figures in the US. Harvey Weinstein, the famous director, came first; he was followed by Kevin Spacey, the renowned actor; and soon afterwards journalists, TV anchors, musicians, physicians, and many more were viewed as sexual predators.
Even Charlie Rose who interviewed prominent presidents and dignitaries such as President Mubarak, Mrs. Jehan El Sadat, President Putin, and President Sadat, had his program cancelled due to sexual accusations and misconduct.
In fact, thousands of women, maybe even millions, have been harassed, groped, and even raped. The #metoo movement brought these cases to the limelight and allowed the victims to break their silence while shaming their perpetrators.
We may never know why prominent, leading figures in a non-restrictive society would resort to such shameful acts. At least this is not our goal in today's argument.
These many offensive episodes had me go back, yet again, to the poll conducted by Thomas Reuters Foundation at the end of 2017, in which it asked “15 experts” in 19 megacities how well women are protected from sexual violence and harmful cultural practices and whether they have good access to healthcare, finance, and education.
Cairo was rated the worst overall. It ranked the third worst megacity for women as far as exposure to sexual harassment and the “most dangerous” for women in general. Once the survey was announced, western media promoted the findings vehemently.
I don’t doubt that women in Cairo are harassed and sexually abused, but I doubt that Cairo is in any way worse than any other city especially since the abuse that girls are exposed to on the streets rarely turns into anything further than that: harassment.
In no way am I defending the sexual harassment existing on the streets of Cairo, which is a vile prevalent violation, but we haven’t heard of a judge, a lawyer, or a doctor that went around groping women, exposing himself indecently, or, heaven forbid, raping anyone. These malicious acts belong amongst the “reputable” men of other countries but not Egypt.
I would be the first to say that Egyptian women, in general and up to this moment, would not come forward with such accusations. Modesty, shame, and dignity forbid them from being that explicit; however, if sexually harassed, the abused would disclose their ordeals to close friends or sisters. And then, society as a whole will recognize the prevalence of such actions in its midst.
We can’t deny that perverts exist everywhere, but they are not as prominent amongst the reputable or at the same rate in Egypt as elsewhere.
We can agree with the poll that “harmful cultural practices” such as female genital mutilation is rampant in Egypt though by far less in Cairo. But wasn’t it the Human Rights Watch that said that “More stringent penalties for female genital mutilation approved by Egypt’s parliament on August 31, 2016, are a step toward eliminating the practice”? The new penalties are prison terms of five to seven years for those who carry out female genital mutilation and up to 15 years if the mutilation causes permanent disability or death.
As far as access to healthcare, women and men receive the same treatment with no discrimination. Still, I would call on the Thomson Reuters Foundation to refer to the 1.8 million Egyptians that have been cured of Hepatitis C in the last two years and the current campaign to detect, treat, and eradicate Hepatitis C altogether from Egypt. If the Thomson Reuters Foundation would have referred to such successful stories, its study would’ve come across as balanced and acceptable.
Reuters should’ve been more exhaustive in its research and more thorough in its conclusions re Egypt and Cairo in particular. Indeed, Reuters should have addressed these accusations to the reputable members of other regions in the world.
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