Mapping Anti-Sexual Harassment and Changing Social Norms in Egypt
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v18i2.1745Mots-clés :
Egypt, HarassMap, Sexual Harassment, law, policy, crowdsourced mappingRésumé
Sexual harassment is a global problem. Based on available data, Egypt has higher than average rates of sexual harassment for the Middle East and North Africa region and many other countries in the global South. This article explores how one organization, HarassMap, has mapped sexual harassment using crowdsourced technology, engaged in anti-sexual harassment activism and sought to change social norms to move toward an environment of zero tolerance. We highlight the evolving activism since 2010, and its respective learning, within an operational environment influenced by restrictive political, religious and socio-cultural spheres. The organization has effectively contributed to changing the public discourse and nurturing an engaged community. It has also supported the development of policies in university and private sector settings, many of which are firsts for the country. The article provides insight on how anti-sexual harassment activism can occur in challenging contexts, using crowdsourcing mapping when traditional methods are illegal or could lead to violence. We draw on these activism and research to reflect on more effective forms of support that external actors can provide within restrictive operational environments.
Références
Abdel Rahim, S. and E. Fracolli. 2016. Egypt’s National Council for Women: A substitute for civil society? https://timep.org/commentary/egypts-national-council-for-women-a-substitute-for-civil-society/
Abdelmonem, A. 2015. Reconsidering de-politicization: HarassMap’s bystander approach and creating critical mass to combat sexual harassment in Egypt. Egypte / Monde Arabe 13, 93-11. DOI: 10.4000/ema.3526
Abdelmonem, A. 2016. Anti-sexual harassment activism in Egypt: Transnationalism and cultural politics of community mobilization. Doctoral dissertation submitted to Arizona State University.
Abdelmonem, A. and S. Galan. 2017. Action-oriented responses to sexual harassment in Egypt: The cases of HarassMap and WenDo. Middle East Women’s Studies 13, 154-167.
Bernardi, C. L. 2017. HarassMap: The silent revolution for women’s rights in Egypt. In Arab Women and the Media in Changing Landscapes, edited by E. Maestri and A. Profanter. Palgrave Macmillan: Cham.
Boutros, M. 2017. Place and tactical innovation in social movements: The emergence of Egypt’s anti-harassment groups. Theory and Society 46(6), 543-575.
Cattle, A. E. 2016. Digital ahrir Square: An analysis of human rights and the Internet examined through the lens of the Egyptian Arab Spring. Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law 26, 417-449.
Cochrane, L. and B. B. Birhanu. 2018. Pathways of legal advocacy for change: Ethiopian Women Lawyers’ Association. Forum for Development Studies. In press.
Cornwall, A. 2013. Preface (viii-xii). In Organizing women workers in the informal economy: Beyond the weapons of the weak, edited by N. Kabeer, R. Sudarshan and K. Milward. Zed: London.
El-Ibiary, R. 2017. Media portrayal of street violence against Egyptian women: Women, socio-political violence, ineffective laws and limited role of NGOs. IAFOR Journal of Media, Communication & Film 4, 49-64.
El-Ashmawy, N. 2017. Sexual harassment in Egypt: Class struggle, state oppression, and women’s empowerment. Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World 15, 225-256.
Fahmy, A., A. Abdelmonem, E. Hamdy, A. Badr and R. Hassan. 2014. Towards a safer city – Sexual harassment in Greater Cairo: The effectiveness of crowdsourced data. HarassMap: Cairo.
HarassMap. 2014. Towards a safer city: Sexual harassment in Greater Cairo: Effectiveness of crowdsourced data. HarassMap: Cairo.
Henry, H. M. 2017. Sexual harassment in the Egyptian streets: Feminist theory revisited. Sexuality & Culture 21, 270-286.
Kabeer, N., K. Milward and R. Sudarshan. 2013. Introduction (p. 1-48). In Organizing women workers in the informal economy: Beyond weapons of the weak edited by N. Kabeer, R. Sudarshan and K. Milward. Zed: London.
Kirollos, M. 2016. “The daughters of Egypt are a red line”: The impact of sexual harassment on Egypt’s legal culture. Sur 24, 137-153.
Langohr, V. 2013. “This is our square” Fighting sexual assault at Cairo protests. Middle East Report 268, www.merip.org/mer/mer268/our-square
Mohamed, A. and A. Van Nes. 2017. Towards safer Greater Cairo: An investigation of space and sexual harassment. Proceedings of the 11th Space Syntax Symposium, 3-7 July, Lisbon, 197, 1-17.
Rizzo, H., A. M. Price and K. Meyer. 2012. Anti-sexual harassment campaign in Egypt. Mobilization 17(4), 457-475.
Saleh, M. 2017. The role of online and social media in combating sexual harassment in Egypt. Thesis submitted to the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, American University in Cairo.
Sepulveda, S. 2015. Arab women, red lines: The anti-sexual harassment movement in Egypt. Undergraduate Thesis, Brown University.
Shoukry, A. and R. M. Hassan. 2008. Clouds in Egypt’s sky: Sexual harassment – From verbal harassment to rape. Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights: Cairo.
Skalli, L. H. 2014. Young women and social media against sexual harassment in North Africa. North African Studies 19(2), 244-258.
Tadros, M. 2015. Mobilizing against sexual harassment in public spaces in Egypt: From blaming ‘open cans of tuna’ to ‘the harasser is a criminal’. EMERGE Case Study 8, Promundo-US, Sonke Gender Justice and the Institute of Development Studies.
Tadros, M. 2016. Challenging reified masculinities: Men as survivors of politically motivated sexual assault in Egypt. Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies 12(3), 323-342.
TRF. 2013. Poll: Women’s rights in the Arab World: http://news.trust.org//spotlight/poll-womens-rights-in-the-arab-world/
UN Women. 2018. Facts and figures: http://arabstates.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures
Young, C. 2014. HarassMap: Using crowdsourced data to map sexual harassment in Egypt. Technology Innovation Management Review March, 7-13.
Zeid, Y. 2017. The power of the volunteers surviving beyond the organizational wall: Liminal spaces of resistance. Thesis submitted to the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.
Téléchargements
Publié-e
Comment citer
Numéro
Rubrique
Licence
Les auteur-e-s publiant dans ACME le font aux conditions de la licence canadienne Creative Commons "Attribution/Non-Commercial/No Derivative Works". En conséquence, les auteur-e-s gardent les droits sur leur texte, ainsi que celui d'être identifié-e-s comme auteur-e-s sans limitation de date. Leur texte peut être partagé librement (soit reproduit, distribué, transmis et publié) dans les conditions suivantes :
- Attribution. La publication originale de ladite oeuvre dans ACME doit être mentionnée et, pour tout usage ou distribution, les termes de sa licence doivent être précisés.
- Non commercial. L'oeuvre ne peut être utilisée à des fins commerciales.
- Pas de travaux dérivés. À l'exception d'usages légitimes dans des buts universitaires ou critiques, l'oeuvre ne peut être altérée ou transformée. À l'exception de la première condition d'attribution à ACME de la publication originale, toutes ces conditions peuvent être levées avec la permission explicite du détenteur du copyright.
(Note: du volume 1(1) au volume 7(2), les auteur-e-s ont donné à ACME un copyright sur leur article limité à la publication dans la revue. Les auteur-e-s gardent le copyright sur leur manuscrit pour toute autre forme de publication, mais doivent mentionner la publication originale dans ACME si le texte est republié ailleurs).
Pour une publication dans ACME, les auteur-e-s déclarent que et se portent garant-e-s que
- leur article est une oeuvre originale, n'a pas été publié avant et n'est pas soumis ailleurs pour publication papier ou électronique sous sa forme finale ;
- Illes ont obtenu l'autorisation de reproduction (papier et électronique) de la part du possesseur des droits de copyright pour tout le matériau qui ne leur appartient pas, et que le possesseur est cité comme source ;
- Leur article ne contient aucun élément violant un copyright existant, le droit d'un tiers, ou quoi que ce soit de nature obscène, indécente, calomniatrice ou en quelque façon illégale ; et, qu'en l'état de leurs connaissance, leur article n'empiète sur les droit de personne.
- Ils ont la charge d'indemniser les rédacteurs et éditeurs d'ACME pour toutes poursuites afférentes à un non respect desdites garanties, indemnisations comprenant l'aide justiciaire et les autres dépenses encourues.
- Dans le cas d'un article avec des multiples auteur-e-s, illes ont obtenu l'accord de tou-te-s les auteur-e-s pour ce contrat d'édition, qui les lie ; et que tou-te-s les auteur-e-s ont lu et approuvé le contrat ci-dessus.