Friday, October 24, 2008
Justice -- kinda
I know it's been like 1,000 years since I blogged here. But I just had to post this New York Times story....
In Cairo, a Groping Case Ends in a Prison Sentence
By Sharon Otterman
Noha al-Ostaz, a 27-year-old Egyptian filmmaker, was standing on the side of a busy, traffic-choked Cairo street last June when a van driver reached out of his window and groped her. Then, pulling at her body, he looked into her face and laughed. Ms. Ostaz had seen women harassed on the crowded streets of the city before, and had seen them do nothing about it. Something inside her clicked.
“I just felt, I’m never going to let this happen again,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.
So Ms. Ostaz shouted and demanded that the driver get out of the van. He refused, so she jumped on the hood, vowing she would rather be hit by the vehicle than get off and let the man drive away. A crowd formed. Finally, the driver got out of the van. Ms. Ostaz, with the help of a female friend and one or two other bystanders, then physically dragged the man to a police station about four blocks away.
On Tuesday, an Egyptian judge sentenced the van driver — Sherif Jebriel, 30 — to three years imprisonment with hard labor, a remarkably lengthy jail sentence by Western standards for such an offense. He was also ordered to pay 5,001 Egyptian pounds ($895) in damages to Ms. Ostaz. Women’s rights activists in Cairo hailed the verdict and sentence, saying that to their knowledge it was the first time an Egyptian court had ordered a groper to prison.
The case comes at a time when verbal and physical harassment of women is starting to be acknowledged as a “real phenomenon in Egypt,” Ms. Ostaz said. Women’s rights activists said they hoped the severe sentence would frighten men into stopping committing assaults that for years have gone unpunished by the authorities and many women have become resigned to as something they just have to deal with on Cairo’s streets.
Earlier in October, eight men were arrested in Cairo on charges that they took part in a group sexual attack on women pedestrians during the Eid holiday, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It was reminiscent of an incident in 2006, when dozens of women reported being violently groped in downtown Cairo by a mob of men.
If any of you have read my old posts about Cairo, you will know that this case is very similar to what happened to me in Cairo.
I too 'lost it' one day after being followed by a guy in his car who was taking pictures of me and masturbating. I jumped on the hood of his car and screamed at the top of my lungs. I too went to the police station only to be laughed away.
It makes me happy and sad all at once to read that the harassment in Cairo has only gotten worse — but that finally it is being taken seriously. I do truly believe it is solely in the hands of the Egyptian women to demand that changes are made.
I know far too many strong Egyptian women. I know they can do it. I hope this example serves as a starting point.
In Cairo, a Groping Case Ends in a Prison Sentence
By Sharon Otterman
Noha al-Ostaz, a 27-year-old Egyptian filmmaker, was standing on the side of a busy, traffic-choked Cairo street last June when a van driver reached out of his window and groped her. Then, pulling at her body, he looked into her face and laughed. Ms. Ostaz had seen women harassed on the crowded streets of the city before, and had seen them do nothing about it. Something inside her clicked.
“I just felt, I’m never going to let this happen again,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.
So Ms. Ostaz shouted and demanded that the driver get out of the van. He refused, so she jumped on the hood, vowing she would rather be hit by the vehicle than get off and let the man drive away. A crowd formed. Finally, the driver got out of the van. Ms. Ostaz, with the help of a female friend and one or two other bystanders, then physically dragged the man to a police station about four blocks away.
On Tuesday, an Egyptian judge sentenced the van driver — Sherif Jebriel, 30 — to three years imprisonment with hard labor, a remarkably lengthy jail sentence by Western standards for such an offense. He was also ordered to pay 5,001 Egyptian pounds ($895) in damages to Ms. Ostaz. Women’s rights activists in Cairo hailed the verdict and sentence, saying that to their knowledge it was the first time an Egyptian court had ordered a groper to prison.
The case comes at a time when verbal and physical harassment of women is starting to be acknowledged as a “real phenomenon in Egypt,” Ms. Ostaz said. Women’s rights activists said they hoped the severe sentence would frighten men into stopping committing assaults that for years have gone unpunished by the authorities and many women have become resigned to as something they just have to deal with on Cairo’s streets.
Earlier in October, eight men were arrested in Cairo on charges that they took part in a group sexual attack on women pedestrians during the Eid holiday, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It was reminiscent of an incident in 2006, when dozens of women reported being violently groped in downtown Cairo by a mob of men.
If any of you have read my old posts about Cairo, you will know that this case is very similar to what happened to me in Cairo.
I too 'lost it' one day after being followed by a guy in his car who was taking pictures of me and masturbating. I jumped on the hood of his car and screamed at the top of my lungs. I too went to the police station only to be laughed away.
It makes me happy and sad all at once to read that the harassment in Cairo has only gotten worse — but that finally it is being taken seriously. I do truly believe it is solely in the hands of the Egyptian women to demand that changes are made.
I know far too many strong Egyptian women. I know they can do it. I hope this example serves as a starting point.
Labels: Cairo, Egypt, harassment, justice, women
.jpg)