# Sexual harassment hotline



## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

The women's complaints office at the National Council for Women has set up the hotline number 08-008-883-888 for receiving complaints about harassment during Eid al-Adha.

In a statement, the council said the operations room of the Egyptian Company for Metro Management & Operation would also collect harassment complaints at 16048 and 25-747-295, as will Fouada Watch, an initiative launched by youth to counter harassment, at 01-150-118-822.
e council called on girls and women to reports incidents of harassment and provide information that would enable Interior Ministry forces to arrest the assailants.

The Cabinet is preparing a draft law that would impose harsher penalties against sexual harassment, Prime Minister Hesham Qandil said Monday, adding that it was a phenomenon that was “extraneous” to Egyptian society.

Qandil stressed the need for coordination with the Education Ministry, media outlets and Al-Azhar to educate youth about harassment through education and the media.

Sexual harassment cases in Egypt usually surge during holidays. Activists and government officials have called for harsher penalties and increased enforcement.


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## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> The Cabinet is preparing a draft law that would impose harsher penalties against sexual harassment, Prime Minister Hesham Qandil said Monday, adding that it was a phenomenon that was “extraneous” to Egyptian society.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

aykalam said:


>




At least they now admit it...


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## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> At least they now admit it...


yes, but it's always someone else's fault!


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Contributors, women and men, carried signs declaring slogans such as "no to harassment" and "catch a harasser for a harassment-free Eid."

During the event, which lasted about an hour, participants also distributed a statement to drivers and passers-by, "Do as you please; you reap what you sow."

The statement addressed those who sexually harass women saying, "I'm your sister, your mother, your wife, your daughter. Do you stand for my humiliation and the loss of my dignity?"

"If you dislike my clothes or my walk, is that an excuse to molest me? If that was so, why do you still harass me when I'm veiled or fully veiled? All the aforementioned are just justifications you use to explain your shameful actions. I would like to walk freely and safely. I want your respect. No to harassment. No excuse for harassment. Harassment is a disease. You reap what you sow." 

According to a survey issued in 2008 by the Egyptian Centre for Women Rights, 83 per cent of women in Egypt and 98 per cent of foreign women have been exposed to sexual harassment at least once.

Prime Minister Hisham Qandil stated on 21 October using his official Facebook page that his cabinet, along with the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and the National Council for Women, are working on finding ways to wipe out sexual harassment in Egypt. 

Qandil revealed in the statement that a law is currently being drafted to combat harassment on the streets through imposing harsh penalties, adding that they are "dealing with sexual harassment as a disastrous phenomenon."


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