Every man and woman should remember every single woman they see walking down the street is someone's mother, sister, auntie, grandma, niece or cousin etc. There is no "other" type of women, as the Major Amr Imam of the Egyptian Army claims when talking about the protesters who were arrested and forced to undergo "virginity tests. He told CNN that
“The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine. These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs). We didn’t want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren’t virgins in the first place. None of them were (virgins).”
Articles are here and here
The women who were a part of the Jan25 Revolution were exactly the same as your mother, your sister, your aunt etc. They were then and are now women, like all women. Their bodies are their own. Their virginity is their concern and not a tool to be used by police to show the jailer's innocence upon release. Though varied in size, shape and color, women's bodies are fundamentally the same. The rights all women should have to protect and keep our bodies safe should be as similar.
"Othering" a segment of the population is popular in every country. "They" are on welfare, only "they" do drugs, I won't get AIDS because I am not one of "them". Well in a city were 98% of women report getting sexually harassed on a daily basis there really is no "other" type of woman. If you are a guy and you still think only a "certain" type of girl gets harassed you are blind, ignorant and scared.
Egypt is changing, slowly, but change is happening. Some women I know report less harassment and some report more. Certainly all reports from Tahrir during the height of the Revolution were of men and women side by side in the most respectful and equal manner. Keep the faith Egypt; get vocal and get upset about this behavior. Sexual abuse by the police or army is not set aside for women only. Men are victims of this as well and will be as long as it is tolerated in any form. No country will ever be a great country until all its citizens are equal and feel equally safe.
I don't know of a country where women feel totally safe. But I had never heard of a country that peacefully deposed an autocratic ruler in less than 30 days either and Egypt you did just that. The world expects the worst from you, keep showing them the best. Be upset about this, be vocal in your opposition and keep demanding better from your countrymen and women.
“The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine. These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs). We didn’t want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren’t virgins in the first place. None of them were (virgins).”
Articles are here and here
The women who were a part of the Jan25 Revolution were exactly the same as your mother, your sister, your aunt etc. They were then and are now women, like all women. Their bodies are their own. Their virginity is their concern and not a tool to be used by police to show the jailer's innocence upon release. Though varied in size, shape and color, women's bodies are fundamentally the same. The rights all women should have to protect and keep our bodies safe should be as similar.
"Othering" a segment of the population is popular in every country. "They" are on welfare, only "they" do drugs, I won't get AIDS because I am not one of "them". Well in a city were 98% of women report getting sexually harassed on a daily basis there really is no "other" type of woman. If you are a guy and you still think only a "certain" type of girl gets harassed you are blind, ignorant and scared.
Egypt is changing, slowly, but change is happening. Some women I know report less harassment and some report more. Certainly all reports from Tahrir during the height of the Revolution were of men and women side by side in the most respectful and equal manner. Keep the faith Egypt; get vocal and get upset about this behavior. Sexual abuse by the police or army is not set aside for women only. Men are victims of this as well and will be as long as it is tolerated in any form. No country will ever be a great country until all its citizens are equal and feel equally safe.
I don't know of a country where women feel totally safe. But I had never heard of a country that peacefully deposed an autocratic ruler in less than 30 days either and Egypt you did just that. The world expects the worst from you, keep showing them the best. Be upset about this, be vocal in your opposition and keep demanding better from your countrymen and women.
1 comment:
well said faye
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