Good morning, the public, what is your news and your situation?
I am Elya Sulaiman, Director of Marketing and Communication Unit at Harassment Map Foundation
I am happy to be with you today, and I thank the Canadian Al-Ahram University for hosting them
In fact, I am very passionate about sexual harassment,
But at the beginning and the end, I belong to the pyramids where I was working,
I am happy to have such a big conference, and it is a good opportunity especially today
Is March 8, International Women’s Day, every year and Egyptian women are fine
Before I start talking, I would like to speak quickly about a personal experience that has taken place with me,
This experience has made me, even before I belong to the Harassment Map Foundation team,
Looking and trying to understand what are the causes of sexual harassment?
And why is it happening? Is there a problem?
And why the great spread of this phenomenon, whether in Cairo or the provinces of the Republic?
One of the things that made me think about this,
One day I was talking to a group of my fellow journalists about sexual harassment
“You do not have the right to talk about sexual harassment because you do not wear the headscarf,” one of the women journalists told me.
I wore the veil as I am now, my neck is visible and my hair is covered.
She added, “The appearance of the neck to harass me, and if it is done, and went to report,
No one will care about me, because the way I wear the veil is not true. “
I was shocked by her words, and answered her, “Is it reasonable to talk, it’s all a phenomenon,
“I know it is shocking, especially as I am not veiled,
I also can not go to report sexual harassment. “
This event was soon after people spoke about the harassment relationship in women’s clothing.
And that there is no relationship between women’s dress and harassment where veiled women are also exposed to it.
I started with these words because there is a relationship between the incident and the justification for sexual harassment.
We observe such incidents through our work at the Harassment Map Foundation in 2010
Our goal is to work to reduce incidents of sexual harassment in our Egyptian societies.
This incident made me join the group that is studying the subject in all its aspects,
The teams work voluntarily, the institution is based on volunteering, and try to understand the problem to solve.
Will we eliminate the problem of sexual harassment overnight? Of course, no!
The incident I mentioned earlier makes us stand with ourselves and think positively
We wonder why some blame women for the way they wear them,
And why do some people think that harassment is the result?
Understand and solve this problem gradually,
So I will quickly explain the goal and see the map of harassment of the changes that occur,
It is based on the stages of transformation, in the sense that we will work with one place,
Such as a university or a company, and stress that harassment is totally unacceptable.
There will be social and legal consequences for those who harass,
We are talking here about the existence of regulations put in place by officials to prevent sexual harassment,
And at the same time as a crime punishable by Egyptian law of all kinds,
Including verbal harassment as well.
It is important that people are aware of the existence of such laws by being sensitized by our organization.
Thus, in the long term, people understand the meaning of sexual harassment by raising awareness,
They can confront him if he or she is in school, university or company.
This work will take a long time, but we can now observe and measure change,
In the short term, we have to work in the place where they are,
For example, Cairo University has an existing policy, a unit of violence and sexual harassment,
There are also people working through the unit to raise awareness of the meaning of sexual harassment,
Especially since the idea of justifications for sexual harassment is a very important part,
In terms of how women wear their clothes, and how their actions were when harassment occurred.
Instead of positive intervention,
Most of the reports are blaming the harasser,
And the idea of justifications to say to the harasser: it is okay is like your father, or like your brother,
Or it’s okay, it’s still small, or first look at your clothes before you complain.
In general, he always condemns interference from sexual harassment,
Positive intervention is important, there is a theory of intervention is very important,
You can read more about them during studies and previous campaigns on sexual harassment.
In case of wrongdoing, the intervention begins with one person, followed by the rest,
For example, if I were robbed in the street and started to say that someone stole me,
We will see that one or two people ran behind him.
Sexual harassment has increased and there has been a significant change since 2010.
But theft is different from harassment, as it will not be said to any of you,
“You are the reason because you were walking and your bag is open, or you should pay more attention”
We want sexual harassment to become unacceptable or permitted as a criterion and social behavior,
This is the “theory of change” derived from the book from which we draw inspiration,
With regard to the turning point, which is considered harassment by society as a whole,
Not just by law.
This will happen in the long run, where we are currently training people,
We work with community units in universities, companies, and so on.
We also work on the issue of intervention by people when harassment occurs.
I will soon explain the nature of our work in the harassment map since the beginning of 2010 until now.
We first started the map idea to identify sexual harassment because of its importance in 2010,
Where the media was referring to sexual harassment as if it were just an opposite,
It would reduce the size of the phenomenon, and harassment does not occur in our societies.
The Egyptian society does not suffer from this problem, because we refuse to recognize the existence of this problem.
Women who were harassed were unable to go to a suitable place to report.
So, we created the way of reporting in the harassment map, and where sexual harassment occurs
And what types of harassment, and without identifying the identity of the name of the harasser.
This was important in 2010, because sexual harassment was taboo.
But girls are now reporting harassment through social media
We have become aware of incidents of sexual harassment, and the community has become aware of this problem.
In May, a company group called for the dismissal of some employees because of harassment.
This is an example of what we are working on, as are safe schools and universities
To implement a policy to prevent sexual harassment, starting with awareness,
And seminars to explain the meaning and types of sexual harassment.
Cairo University has a unit of sexual harassment, and in partnership with them we have established a policy to prevent it too.
We also did the same thing at Beni Suef University, and it is developing there where people think
That harassment occurs in Cairo only, it occurs in all governorates of the Republic.
The University of Beni Suef has established a unit to combat violence and sexual harassment.
We also work in other universities in different governorates of the Republic.
We also wanted to reach more people instead of talking about sexual harassment
In inappropriate terms and amplifying the subject, we can speak in a simple and understandable language.
So, we decided to reach the slums, talk with people there,
And interaction with them through the so-called “interactive theater”.
In the sense of simulating what happens in the Egyptian street when sexual harassment,
What is the role of each person in sexual harassment, for example the role of the old man, or girl, and so on.
As for the safe companies, we will apply the theory of change that we talked about,
We will be in the place where we will work, such as university or company,
The safe company will implement a policy against sexual harassment,
Through the establishment of clear and explicit mechanisms, such as what actions will be taken against the harasser,
Will he be dismissed from work, or will be deducted from his salary
There will be someone responsible for communicating with the harasser.
In order to raise awareness, we have created a means of social communication
In July to educate people about sexual harassment in public places,
Especially since people believed that it did not happen, or that it occurs in part,
Or it occurs between workers in factories only.
It happens in all classes: rich and poor, local or multinational companies,
Small or large companies, it is important to know that.
We launched a campaign to educate people that sexual harassment is a priority,
And that it should be observed in the company, workplace,
And that harassment affects the activity and performance of the person, and ridiculous things or challenges
Which came with us where we continue with one of the famous Internet cafes,
One of them was subjected to sexual harassment, and we continued with the survivor,
We wanted to know what actions were taken against the harasser,
We asked the harasser about it, and said that she complained to the manager,
The manager rewarded her with fruit juice at the expense of the shop.
The subject ended, as if to say to her,
“Drink the juice and forget the subject.”
It is a matter of laughter, and we tried to laugh, but it is an incident that shows contempt for people.
Sexual harassment is not a problem.
We will talk quickly about another subject that has to do with the justifications of sexual harassment,
And the idea we launched in 2013 about the justifications for sexual harassment I mentioned earlier
In the sense that there is a relationship between women’s dress and sexual harassment,
Why should the veil be exposed to him?
If there is a link between poverty and harassment, why is harassment of the rich?
If it is caused by the delay in the age of marriage, why is harassment of girls at the age of 8 years?
These justifications have prompted us to constantly think, and they are behind the community’s acceptance of sexual harassment.
We launched another campaign called “Harassment” to educate people about the existence of a law that prevents harassment of all kinds.
The campaign through social media was about harassment in schools and universities.
In order not to be too long, in general, there has been a change in the harassment map from 2010
To date on the change in the subject of sexual harassment, is no longer taboo,
We are talking about it in the media, universities, universities have become in general
Take steps to address sexual harassment.
Do not think of the subject as if you are the only one responsible for addressing harassment,
There has been a change at the individual level where the individual becomes involved when he is in front of him
Sexual harassment whether male or female.
We are not just women, they are a group of volunteers, women and men.
We should intervene because sexual harassment harms society as a whole.
This will generally affect society as a whole, and we should not underestimate individual behavior.
thank you.
(clap)
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