Harassment... yes it is an issue

June the 20th was the day to blog and tweet about sexual harassment in Egypt, I was sick so I am late. I actually thought about avoiding the issue as it seems it will never get better, but then I thought about all of my friends who have made the effort to write something and I thought about how much the issue pisses me of so here is my piece on it. I shall start by giving you an example of a normal day in Maadi, which is a upscale neighborhood on the outskirts of Cairo inhabited by lots and lots of expats, so foreigners aren't such a strange site here.
I leave the house for work at around 7:30 dressed in jeans and a t shirt that shows no cleavage, I walk to the end of the street to hail a cab, before I reach the end of the street I am already shouted or hissed  at by at least one man. I hail a cab, I get in without making any eye contact and tell him my destination, he already has a face on him like the cat who has got the cream, he stares at me through the rear view mirror for the entire duration of the journey and every now and then he will ask me if I am single and if I like Egyptian men, sometimes he will go on to say I have beautiful eyes, I don't respond to this and put on my best "mean bitch " face. At my destination I get out and pay him and head towards the bridge that takes me to work. As I am walking to the top of the bridge a few guys ride by on mopeds, they make comments and get far too close for my liking, I get as close to the railing as I possibly can. Some days there is a guy on top of the bridge, he waits until I pass him and begins to masturbate as he walks behind me, I am sadly so used to this that I now just roll my eyes and continue walking at my normal pace. On the final street I encounter a group of school boys who laugh and point and make lewd comments. Then I get to work which is thankfully a harassment free zone, except for the days when we have work men in, but our caretaker quickly tells them to avert their eyes. From 9 to 9:30 the parents arrive with their children, the mothers often have horror stories from their own short journeys; one got flashed at with her two children in tow, and one pregnant mother was recently grabbed, more worryingly another mother spotted the masturbater doing his thing right outside the school. At 4 pm I leave work and maybe do some chores on the way home, I am constantly hissed at and guys seem to deliberately walk too close and bump into me. I get home and realize I need to order water, I call the local shop and 10 minutes later the delivery guy turns up, I answer the door in my most ugly clothes and with no make up, his eyes open up like he just saw a porn star, he greets me with a "Hey beautiful" and takes a step into my apartment; I give him an icy stare and tell him to get out, I shut the door on his face while I sort out his money, when I open the door again to give him his money he lets it drop to the floor and expects me to bend over in front of him to pick it up, when I refuse and slam the door he screams to me that I am a cunt!

This is a day when I stay in Maadi, where harassment isn't as bad as it is in the rest of Cairo, if I choose to go downtown, the taxi driver may try and grab my boobs, he may also offer me money for sex, as I walk down the street guys in nice cars will pull up close and tell me "oooh I wanna fuck you in the ass", if I choose to take the metro; guys at the metro station will begin to play porn on their phones and hold it in a way that I have to see it. The point is, it happens but people here, both male and female choose to deny it happens, and while they keep on denying it it will continue to happen. Women feel they can't speak out because it is somehow their fault and decent women don't get harassed.... BULLSHIT men made you feel like this OPEN YOUR EYES!! People say it happens everywhere and to some extent it does but I have never experienced it to this extent and neither has any foreigner I have spoken to. This blog won't change a thing, facing up to the fact that it is a problem will set the wheels of change in motion but I really wonder how long it will be before that happens... maybe we will all have to were a niquab to stop the poor men lusting after us. Until then I guess we will have to resign to kicking them in the balls... bastards