Women’s organizations in Egypt on Wednesday registered 19 cases of sexual harassment, both verbally and physically, within the governorates of Gharbiya, Daqahlia and Alexandria during the first day of Eid al-Fitr.
The Women’s Center for Legal Guidance and Awareness formed the “Anti-Harassment Operations Room” to monitor and document cases of sexual harassment and violence against women and girls during Eid.
The campaign included hotlines to receive harassment complaints in five governorates: Daqahlia, Cairo, Sharqiya, Gharbiya and Alexandria.
The center’s executive director, Reda al-Danbouqi, said that the center received 19 harassment complaints in a number of governorates, eight in Daqahlia, six in Gharbiya and five in Alexandria.
The organizations formed a campaign to monitor all forms of violence against women throughout Eid al-Fitr, setting up hotlines to respond to harassment complaints, in conjunction with the deployment of women’s police teams in all parks and public areas to confront any violence, riots or harassment.
Women’s police were a heavy presence across Cairo and Giza’s streets and squares on Wednesday, coming from the Department of Combating Violence against Women in order to confront harassment, especially within parks.
Despite the security presence, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that there were some cases of verbal harassment after the Eid prayers.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
