YAH. I made that thingy....
Sorry for spelling the word 'Thief" wrong.
The other day, I was witness of harassment. One out of millions. I was in the metro and it was packed. I couldn't move a bit. There was this girl a little further and I could see a man touching her waist. She was young and she looked terrorized. I was too far away to help her. Just before I stepped off, a women placed herself between the girl and the man. She helped her out of the metro. The girl was crying.
Why do so many men think that their immediate sexual satisfaction allows them to make others miserable? They understand that they can't steel money or other material things and if they do, they know it's wrong or at least against the law. But they don't consider it wrong or against the law to steel a women's body, her integrity and dignity. They just help themselves as they please, whether it pleases the women or not.
We must be prepared, we must react and certainly talk about it; not feel isolated.
What is happening now in Egypt is terribly important. On one side, women are progressively coming out of their silence, on the other side so many Egyptian men are extremely aggressive towards women. Many boys find it absurdly normal for girls to be harassed. They say it's the women's fault. Fortunately, a group of men support the cause of women's rights. The documentary below describes the daily life of Egyptian women. How every step is potentially dangerous. How risking it is to take the bus (metros have special wagons for women to be safe.) How their suffering is ignored and worse, condemned.
I must add that I am generally talking about women suffering from sexual harassment, but this is a problem that often occurs to boys as well. Their cases are even more ignored.
The documentary consists of two parts. The one about women in Egypt starts at 56 minutes. Unfortunately it is in French, but much of it is in English.
This is an English short documentary. Only the five first minutes relate to this subject.
Now, I know that this isn't an easy subject. If this all does something to you, as it did to me, start talking about it. If it doesn't, I don't blame you! Not at all!
I'm sure you have or will be concerned with harassment. If you have a tip to protect yourself from an attacker, spread it. If you are harassed, you don’t have the time to think. It happens so suddenly. So you need to have the solution already in mind.
I talked about it with my girlfriends during lunch. First, everyone was like : " What is your problem?!", but I told them everything I'd heard about harassment ( UGH, I was blushing ) and we all started talking about our own experiences. At the end of the conversation we all had the feeling we had revealed something.
Girls in the Arab world
will be helped if we show that we are with them. This will make them stronger
and give them the power to react. Let’s support the girls in Egypt and
elsewhere. Let’s show them that we back them. Let's encourage anti-sexism!
- Ted X Women
- Slutwalk - Rookie
- Fight like a girl - Rookie
- Hands off - Rookie
- Middle Eastern and North African Protests Shatter Myths About Muslim Women
I’ll update the list regularly and if you have a good link (relating to this subject), you can comment it right below!
Au Revoir,
Jeanne
Definitely talk about it and be like the brave woman on the bus, help a girl (or boy) out of a bad situation
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