# woman alone in Cairo....safe ??



## Sofia Cooper

I need some advice on being alone in Cairo and going out at night ,
I usually always travel with friends to many differant places, but my next holiday will be in Cairo alone as to check out whether i could really move to Egypt to live 
So what iam wanting to know, is it safe for me to go out alone in the evening ,, maybe not so much into the bars (as i dont do that in the UK) but maybe a walk along the banks of the Nile etc .....
Most probably i will meet other tourists who may take me under thire wing , or maybe not ,as i dont want to impose on other tourists to enjoy my time there, 
So is there any suggestions of places to go in the evening which is safe for a lone woman
I have heard the crime rate in Cairo is quite low, can anyone enlighten me on this 
I have been to Cairo twice before and that was with crowd of tourists,,, and also only druing the day 
Which is a good area to stay in...and at reasonable prices 
Regards Sofie


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## DeadGuy

Hi there,

It just depends on how you define the word "safe" lol

Good luck in here!


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## Shaanz

Sofia Cooper said:


> I need some advice on being alone in Cairo and going out at night ,
> I usually always travel with friends to many differant places, but my next holiday will be in Cairo alone as to check out whether i could really move to Egypt to live
> So what iam wanting to know, is it safe for me to go out alone in the evening ,, maybe not so much into the bars (as i dont do that in the UK) but maybe a walk along the banks of the Nile etc .....
> Most probably i will meet other tourists who may take me under thire wing , or maybe not ,as i dont want to impose on other tourists to enjoy my time there,
> So is there any suggestions of places to go in the evening which is safe for a lone woman
> I have heard the crime rate in Cairo is quite low, can anyone enlighten me on this
> I have been to Cairo twice before and that was with crowd of tourists,,, and also only druing the day
> Which is a good area to stay in...and at reasonable prices
> Regards Sofie


Well, I wouldnt take a walk along the Nile banks by myself. I do go to clubs, restaurants ect...by myself but do almost always meet up with friends there. I've never been mugged or anything, but still am very careful, the same as I would be back home.


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## Sofia Cooper

DeadGuy said:


> Hi there,
> 
> It just depends on how you define the word "safe" lol
> 
> Good luck in here!


 Safeas in safe .......i think without getting the dictionary out ..it means ...no harm to come to me .lol .......Deadguy i am sure you get what i was meaning .


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## Sofia Cooper

Shaanz said:


> Well, I wouldnt take a walk along the Nile banks by myself. I do go to clubs, restaurants ect...by myself but do almost always meet up with friends there. I've never been mugged or anything, but still am very careful, the same as I would be back home.


Thanx Shaanz ......so you advice not to walk the streets alone, so late night shopping etc really should be given a miss ?.......i iwll bear this in mind ,,,,and if i do venture i will obviously keep to crowded areas and well light as i would do here , thanx again


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## Shaanz

Sofia Cooper said:


> Thanx Shaanz ......so you advice not to walk the streets alone, so late night shopping etc really should be given a miss ?.......i iwll bear this in mind ,,,,and if i do venture i will obviously keep to crowded areas and well light as i would do here , thanx again


I live in maadi and I go to metro (a supermarket) at night, i dont live to far so I walk. When its really late my husband goes with me, but you are alone, so yes I would probably give it a miss, or use a taxi.


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## elrasho

Shaanz said:


> I live in maadi and I go to metro (a supermarket) at night, i dont live to far so I walk. When its really late my husband goes with me, but you are alone, so yes I would probably give it a miss, or use a taxi.


I'l be in Maadi soon fingers crossed. Sofia you will be fine, you can stroll around at 3am and no one will bother you as long as your behaving yourself.

Im in the same boat as you too, hopefully will be doing CELTA in Cairo later this year


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## Sofia Cooper

elrasho said:


> I'l be in Maadi soon fingers crossed. Sofia you will be fine, you can stroll around at 3am and no one will bother you as long as your behaving yourself.
> 
> Im in the same boat as you too, hopefully will be doing CELTA in Cairo later this year


Well good luck in Maadi ....and yes i iwll be behaving myslef ,, as i always do .....i intend not to draw attetion to myslef ,,, 
Yes the CELTA COURSE ..... i would love to do ,,,but i have a feeling the qualifactions differ from the TEFL ,,,and that means i ma not be able to apply
Good luck tho


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## elrasho

Sofia Cooper said:


> Well good luck in Maadi ....and yes i iwll be behaving myslef ,, as i always do .....i intend not to draw attetion to myslef ,,,
> Yes the CELTA COURSE ..... i would love to do ,,,but i have a feeling the qualifactions differ from the TEFL ,,,and that means i ma not be able to apply
> Good luck tho


You don't need any qualificatons to do CELTA really, as long as your a native english speaker and have some GCSEs in English you should be ok. Or you can do this other course in Egypt. I've PM you the link


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## Beatle

Sofia Cooper said:


> Thanx Shaanz ......so you advice not to walk the streets alone, so late night shopping etc really should be given a miss ?.......i iwll bear this in mind ,,,,and if i do venture i will obviously keep to crowded areas and well light as i would do here , thanx again


I walk around the streets by myself in well-lit areas. Sometimes I find men in cars try to pick me up but if you ignore them they go away. I probably feel safer walking around on my own in Cairo than in the UK but that might be because there are always people around.

Zamalek is a nice place to stay for your visit although not the cheapest area. But I feel quite safe wandering round Zamalek at night.


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## Sofia Cooper

Beatle said:


> I walk around the streets by myself in well-lit areas. Sometimes I find men in cars try to pick me up but if you ignore them they go away. I probably feel safer walking around on my own in Cairo than in the UK but that might be because there are always people around.
> 
> Zamalek is a nice place to stay for your visit although not the cheapest area. But I feel quite safe wandering round Zamalek at night.


Thanx Beatle about being aware of men in cars, as i would do that here,, but to be honest i wouldnt of thougt they did that in Egypt ,,,why i dont know , i just didnt think they would 
So i will be aware of that !!
Yes Zamalek sounds a nice safe place to be after dark and to stay ,,, i have heard it can be expensive but i iwll check it out ...

Thanx again


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## moataz123

All the comments here are totally correct.

I would say, feel free to go out at night to any place alone, just avoid the same situations you would avoid in your country, like: no back unpopulated streets after dark, don't drink and walk, take care not to carry a relatively big purse at night which can give ideas to someone to grab it, walk near the buildings if you have to walk in a dark street.... etc

Just it's safe in normal situations, which is the usual life. If you felt threatened, or someone threatened you, just call loud for "help", and you will find many people willing to help.

All places are safe to live in, unless you grab negative attention or reputation, which I don't think is a problem in your case.


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## NZCowboy

Just because the so called crime figures are low doesn't mean its safe. A good friend was walking in Maadi accompanied by a male. She is pretty worldly having travel a bit, she was walking on the inside of the male, she had handbag over her shoulder and her arm back thru the strap with fingers thru the rings that straps attach to. They cross the street, and she is on the outside, no sooner than they had crossed the street a car goes past a guy leans out grabs her bag. She is pulled off her feet, dragged along beside the car, her first instinct was to hang on but as the car accelerated she went to let go but was unable to as her hand and fingers were caught in the rings and straps of the bag. 
She was dragged for over 50 metres before the straps finally broke. She was a mess broken thumb,and fingers, renched shoulder, alot of skin off her legs and her free arm as she was dragged down to street. This in Maadi where it seems nearly every street has a least one arm policeman stationed somewhere along the street.
Telling this to my wife who is Egyptian, she says this is common and lists of 3 of her friends that have there bags either snatched or attempted scattered all over Cairo, in the last 5 years.
Three weeks ago my wife had her laptop and bag stolen, went to the police station to report it. Very disorangised, piles of papers, folders everywhere and filing cabinets bulging, the policeman takes down the details on a sheet of A4, stamps the paper, they take a copy of our ID's. The report isn't given a file number, we are given a copy and I image the report will be carefully filed with the many that we that we walk over as we leave the office.
I doubt if the report of the stolen laptop will make the crime stats, but at least the crime figures are low. I have a police report for my insurance so everyone is happy.
The girl who was dragged by the car said she experienced the same when she reported her incident, they weren't to interested, they went thru the motions of taking down incident, and that was about it, then I guess it was carefully filed on the floor with rest of them as everyone continues to walk over them.

Scarey ... I'm starting to sound like DeadGuy... I must have been here to long ... lol


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## moataz123

NZCowboy said:


> Just because the so called crime figures are low doesn't mean its safe. A good friend was walking in Maadi accompanied by a male. She is pretty worldly having travel a bit, she was walking on the inside of the male, she had handbag over her shoulder and her arm back thru the strap with fingers thru the rings that straps attach to. They cross the street, and she is on the outside, no sooner than they had crossed the street a car goes past a guy leans out grabs her bag. She is pulled off her feet, dragged along beside the car, her first instinct was to hang on but as the car accelerated she went to let go but was unable to as her hand and fingers were caught in the rings and straps of the bag.
> She was dragged for over 50 metres before the straps finally broke. She was a mess broken thumb,and fingers, renched shoulder, alot of skin off her legs and her free arm as she was dragged down to street. This in Maadi where it seems nearly every street has a least one arm policeman stationed somewhere along the street.
> Telling this to my wife who is Egyptian, she says this is common and lists of 3 of her friends that have there bags either snatched or attempted scattered all over Cairo, in the last 5 years.
> Three weeks ago my wife had her laptop and bag stolen, went to the police station to report it. Very disorangised, piles of papers, folders everywhere and filing cabinets bulging, the policeman takes down the details on a sheet of A4, stamps the paper, they take a copy of our ID's. The report isn't given a file number, we are given a copy and I image the report will be carefully filed with the many that we that we walk over as we leave the office.
> I doubt if the report of the stolen laptop will make the crime stats, but at least the crime figures are low. I have a police report for my insurance so everyone is happy.
> The girl who was dragged by the car said she experienced the same when she reported her incident, they weren't to interested, they went thru the motions of taking down incident, and that was about it, then I guess it was carefully filed on the floor with rest of them as everyone continues to walk over them.
> 
> Scarey ... I'm starting to sound like DeadGuy... I must have been here to long ... lol



And what do you suggest to the lady that asked the question??


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## NZCowboy

moataz123 said:


> And what do you suggest to the lady that asked the question??


She can take what she wants from it, I'm just relating my/our experinces having been visiting and living here for over ten years as an expat ... I would hate to be accused of being a racist or something.

Don't get the forum started on sexual molestation, etc according to the offical figures it barely exists, but who is going to report if the vicitim is going to be accused of bringing it on to themselves, it must have been the way you were dressed etc

Just because the crime stats are low ....... it must be safe. Yeah Right!!


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## Sofia Cooper

NZCowboy said:


> She can take what she wants from it, I'm just relating my/our experinces having been visiting and living here for over ten years as an expat ... I would hate to be accused of being a racist or something.
> 
> Don't get the forum started on sexual molestation, etc according to the offical figures it barely exists, but who is going to report if the vicitim is going to be accused of bringing it on to themselves, it must have been the way you were dressed etc
> 
> Just because the crime stats are low ....... it must be safe. Yeah Right!!


Firstly NZ Cowboy ,,,yeeehaaaa ..lol sorry just had to do that ,,,,,NOW on a serious note ....no one can be like Deadguy lol ......iam only joking before any of his freinds comment !!! i think he is a nice guy really ,, and an intersting charactor to say the least........what would we do without him !!!
NOWWWWW down to the serious business ,,,that was awful what happend to that poor woman ,,and of course you wife !,,, i so many times teaching self defence tell woman to try and avoid walking around with their bags showing and try and secure them ,, but as a woman myslef , we need our bags as we carry so much in them lol ,, but i have to say i have taught my female students the importance of nothing is worth being injured for !!! ...easier said than done !!...so yes this was a very unfortunate incident ,, and i know Cairo like any other city has is crime problems ,,, but i had to get an idea of what people who live here thought ,, and like the incidents of the poor woman and your wife who had her laptop stolen came to light ,.....as to be honest i wouldnt of thought that type of crime would happen here,,,,yes maybe iam blinkered abit ,,but i just didnt think it did ,,,,,,and yes i have heard about the response of the police here to differant crimes is not good ,,, but again i dont judge everything by hearsay ,,,,its just nice to get feedback as so to be aware it can happen ,,,,but dare the one who tries to take my back ...loooooooool and I AM JOKING ,,,, as iam not a super woman , and if god forbid anything does happen all my training may not be sufficent eought to ward of a gang of men !!!
So thanx for the feedback


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## DeadGuy

Sofia Cooper said:


> Firstly NZ Cowboy ,,,yeeehaaaa ..lol sorry just had to do that ,,,,,NOW on a serious note ....no one can be like Deadguy lol ......iam only joking before any of his freinds comment !!! i think he is a nice guy really ,, and an intersting charactor to say the least........what would we do without him !!!
> NOWWWWW down to the serious business ,,,that was awful what happend to that poor woman ,,and of course you wife !,,, i so many times teaching self defence tell woman to try and avoid walking around with their bags showing and try and secure them ,, but as a woman myslef , we need our bags as we carry so much in them lol ,, but i have to say i have taught my female students the importance of nothing is worth being injured for !!! ...easier said than done !!...so yes this was a very unfortunate incident ,, and i know Cairo like any other city has is crime problems ,,, but i had to get an idea of what people who live here thought ,, and like the incidents of the poor woman and your wife who had her laptop stolen came to light ,.....as to be honest i wouldnt of thought that type of crime would happen here,,,,yes maybe iam blinkered abit ,,but i just didnt think it did ,,,,,,and yes i have heard about the response of the police here to differant crimes is not good ,,, but again i dont judge everything by hearsay ,,,,its just nice to get feedback as so to be aware it can happen ,,,,but dare the one who tries to take my back ...loooooooool and I AM JOKING ,,,, as iam not a super woman , and if god forbid anything does happen all my training may not be sufficent eought to ward of a gang of men !!!
> So thanx for the feedback



Hi there,

First of all! I’m not a “nice” guy :lol: and I’m not trying to be nice 

As I said in my previous post in this thread, it just depends on how you define the word safe.

Some people find it “ok” to get idiots’ eyes staring at their bodies as long as they're not going for more, some think it’s a dangerous thing, some people think it’s “ok” to walk back home without their wallet or purse as long as they’re still “alive” and some don’t see it this way, so it just depends on how tough/fragile you are, or how you see things, for me it's just a matter of priorities, first things come first, but it's not the same for everyone, my priorities could mean nothing to other people, so it will be depending on how you define it.

But I couldn’t help but noticing that you keep getting surprised by many of the things mentioned by different people in here, saying that you “didn’t expect it to be happening in Egypt”…… I won’t ask what you’re expecting or why you’re expecting/not expecting things to happen in here, but my advice is not to expect much! The higher your expectations are, the bigger your disappointments are gonna be! Specially when it comes to "Females' safety" in here!! That’s all I can say!


Good luck!


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## MaidenScotland

Egypt is no safer than any other large city you must be aware of your surroundings and take heed of what is going on, other than the main streets you will find Cairo is not well lit and it really doesn't take many steps to find yourself going from a lit street to a dark alley.
I don't know what you have to do to draw attention to yourself... I am a grandmother who gets plenty of uninvited attention!! Just have a look around the streets you very rarely see an Egyptian women walking on her own!


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## MaidenScotland

NZCowboy said:


> Just because the so called crime figures are low doesn't mean its safe. A good friend was walking in Maadi accompanied by a male. She is pretty worldly having travel a bit, she was walking on the inside of the male, she had handbag over her shoulder and her arm back thru the strap with fingers thru the rings that straps attach to. They cross the street, and she is on the outside, no sooner than they had crossed the street a car goes past a guy leans out grabs her bag. She is pulled off her feet, dragged along beside the car, her first instinct was to hang on but as the car accelerated she went to let go but was unable to as her hand and fingers were caught in the rings and straps of the bag.
> She was dragged for over 50 metres before the straps finally broke. She was a mess broken thumb,and fingers, renched shoulder, alot of skin off her legs and her free arm as she was dragged down to street. This in Maadi where it seems nearly every street has a least one arm policeman stationed somewhere along the street.
> Telling this to my wife who is Egyptian, she says this is common and lists of 3 of her friends that have there bags either snatched or attempted scattered all over Cairo, in the last 5 years.
> Three weeks ago my wife had her laptop and bag stolen, went to the police station to report it. Very disorangised, piles of papers, folders everywhere and filing cabinets bulging, the policeman takes down the details on a sheet of A4, stamps the paper, they take a copy of our ID's. The report isn't given a file number, we are given a copy and I image the report will be carefully filed with the many that we that we walk over as we leave the office.
> I doubt if the report of the stolen laptop will make the crime stats, but at least the crime figures are low. I have a police report for my insurance so everyone is happy.
> The girl who was dragged by the car said she experienced the same when she reported her incident, they weren't to interested, they went thru the motions of taking down incident, and that was about it, then I guess it was carefully filed on the floor with rest of them as everyone continues to walk over them.
> 
> Scarey ... I'm starting to sound like DeadGuy... I must have been here to long ... lol



Sadly this is all to familiar... a friend had her gold necklace snatched and the policeman just watched, a crowd of us were walking past the borga shorta and a man on a bicycle snatched a young girls bag and everyone including police just stood there, a few years ago my maid had the cheeks of her bottom well and truly fondle outside the borga shorta and she went straight in to report it and was asked... why what have you got under your skirt that he wants to touch?... The list goes on and on... as you said crime stats here are doctored and thats just the crimes that are reported.


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## MaidenScotland

Sofia Cooper said:


> Thanx Beatle about being aware of men in cars, as i would do that here,, but to be honest i wouldnt of thougt they did that in Egypt ,,,why i dont know , i just didnt think they would
> So i will be aware of that !!
> Yes Zamalek sounds a nice safe place to be after dark and to stay ,,, i have heard it can be expensive but i iwll check it out ...
> 
> Thanx again



In 2008, the issue of harassment took a significant turn when Noha Roushdy, a 27-year-old Egyptian filmmaker, won a landmark legal battle against a man who grabbed her breast on a busy road. The court sentenced the offender to three years in jail and ordered him to pay a $900 fine.
Roushdy explained that she was standing on the side of a busy, traffic-choked Cairo street when a van driver reached out of his window and groped her. Then, pulling at her body, he looked into her face and laughed. Roushdy shouted and demanded the driver get out of the van. When he refused, she jumped on the hood, determined not to let the man drive away. Roushdy asked people for help but everyone blamed her for fighting with a man on a street, even if the man had harassed her.
However, a court sentenced the driver, Sherif Jebriel, 30, to three years' imprisonment with hard labour, a remarkably lengthy jail sentence by Western standards for such an offence.
Women's rights activists and journalists in Cairo hailed the verdict, saying that to their knowledge, it was the first time an Egyptian court had sent a groper to prison. They were of the opinion that the judge had set an example.


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## MaidenScotland

Sofia.. if you are using taxis never sit in the front seat with the driver.


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## DeadGuy

MaidenScotland said:


> Egypt is no safer than any other large city you must be aware of your surroundings and take heed of what is going on, other than the main streets you will find Cairo is not well lit and it really doesn't take many steps to find yourself going from a lit street to a dark alley.
> I don't know what you have to do to draw attention to yourself... I am a grandmother who gets plenty of uninvited attention!! Just have a look around the streets you very rarely see an Egyptian women walking on her own!


Hi there,

Many things draw deprived perverts’ attention to females in here….. if a female’s just walking some pervert might find something “special” about that, if a female’s waiting for a bus or a taxi then it means she’s looking for being picked up for some idiots, if a female’s just making a phone call it means that she’s setting a date with someone……You’ll be surprised of how some mentalities function in here, just as it surprised me how great their imagination can be!!!

If you’re not a local female, that makes their sick imagination go even "greater" most of the time as well, sad, pathetic, but happening!

I can’t advice much about the dressing codes though, not just cause I’m a guy, but also cause I’ve seen very strange stuff happening….. COMPLETELY veiled females (Monakabbat) get harassed and get “touched” sometimes as well!!!! So it's not just how "you" dress!! It's about how those idiots "think"!!

And about the taxis and sitting in the front seat...... I'll also advice what I tell my own sisters..... don't sit in the back seat right behind the driver, sit behind the passenger's seat, of course most of the "traditional" taxis (Black and white ones) got LOTS of mirrors hanged EVERYWHERE in the vehicle!!! But it will make it a bit harder for the driver to "monitor" the passenger in the back when it's not that easy to focus on both the road and the passenger!

So it’s not about the “cloths” or the females’ “behavior” all the time! It’s just about being in the wrong place at the wrong time most of the time!

Good luck!


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## MaidenScotland

Sofia.. I would suggest you take your contact links of your profile.

Maiden


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## Sofia Cooper

MaidenScotland said:


> Egypt is no safer than any other large city you must be aware of your surroundings and take heed of what is going on, other than the main streets you will find Cairo is not well lit and it really doesn't take many steps to find yourself going from a lit street to a dark alley.
> I don't know what you have to do to draw attention to yourself... I am a grandmother who gets plenty of uninvited attention!! Just have a look around the streets you very rarely see an Egyptian women walking on her own!


Thanx MaidenScotland ,,, some good sound advice as usual from you .. i will take heed to heading off the main streets at night and of course common sense tells me to stay in well lit areas ,


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## Lanason

Sofia Cooper said:


> . . . . . . but my next holiday will be in Cairo alone as to check out whether i could really move to Egypt to live . . . . .


If you come to the "check it out" I think you will be disappointed. You need to plan carefully.

Key questions are:-
Where do I live? - so you need to look at a few apartments, to get a feel. - organise in advance
Where can I work? - sus out a few possible employers - meet them
Remember - if you come here to get a job - you will be paid a local rate - not the UK equivalent unless you are recruited as an "Expat Expert".

Will you move out on your own to live or with family / friends ? - networking and getting to know people is best.

Arrange to go to one of the BCA clubs (Maadi / Heliopolis / Mohandisen) during your visit and chat to the "local" expats. Some of em are quite knowledgeable :eyebrows:

Don't do the Tourist trail - ie Pyramids, Museum - it will tell you nothing.

Wandering around the streets and going in a few bars or restaurants will do little for your aim.


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## Sofia Cooper

Thanx Aqua this has been very useful information indeed .....the thing is for me to be as organised and knowleged before i come ,,ie like you say meeting with expats and checking out appartments and prices etc .....yes this has to be planned in advance ,, yes i dont expect to land in Cairo and walk into a job and have an appartment wainting ....thanx again Aqua


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## armandnio

you will find safe as you will find policemen in every place it is safe in egypt at any time but you will find guys who will try to hook with you sime thing like that but in egypt they are good to forginers


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