CAIRO: In an effort to crackdown on the rising number of attacks against women across Egypt, the ministry of interior has announced it will boost security patrols in the country aimed at confronting sexual harassment.<\/p>\n
It comes on the heels of numerous mob attacks of women in the country, including at protests, but activists tell Bikyamasr.com that while they hope this effort will bring change to the growing fear of attacks on women, they also argue that police are the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are attacked and the police either stand by or do nothing and laugh as men say disgusting things at women, grab our chests or behinds, so I am definitely not convinced yet,\u201d said 22-year-old Cairo University student Diana Zaky.<\/p>\n
She told Bikyamasr.com that when she asked police to intervene after three young boys were harassing her in Giza near the university, \u201cthey just told me to go home and didn\u2019t move to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ministry also said that surveillance cameras would be put up across the country and additional security patrols appointed to \u201cguarantee the immediate capture of sexual offenders,\u201d said Egypt\u2019s National Council for Women.<\/p>\n
Female specialist officers and social researchers will be appointed in different police departments to provide an appropriate atmosphere during investigations with women in sensitive cases, it added.<\/p>\n
Chairwoman of the National Council for Women, Mervat al-Talawy, reportedly met with the Interior Minister and asked for harsher efforts to protect women from sexual harassment.<\/p>\n
The question for many Egyptian women is whether an effort like this will produce results, after numerous campaigns in recent years have fallen on deaf ears.<\/p>\n
One incident that sparked a fervor of worries occurred near the Pizza Hut on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, with dozens of men allegedly brutally assaulting a woman on the street. According to a doctor, the woman was the victim of \u201cmass rape.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the incident was reported on Twitter, a group of male protesters reportedly intervened and were able to remove the woman from the assault. Those who first revealed the incident refused to speak to the media, including Bikyamasr.com on the incident, but it again highlighted the fear women have of taking to Tahrir during mass protests.<\/p>\n
Other women on the micro-blogging site and on Facebook reported being groped and harassed while they were in Tahrir, including a number of female journalists.<\/p>\n
As crowds continue to maintain positions in Tahrir in opposition to President Mohamed Morsi\u2019s decrees that put him above the rule of law, women\u2019s safety is again a growing concern.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this is a never-ending problem facing Egyptian women when large demonstrations are called for in central Cairo.<\/p>\n
In June, an anti-sexual harassment demonstration organized by over 20 Egyptian women\u2019s groups in protest against the recent escalation of assaults in Cairo\u2019s Tahrir Square was attacked about an hour and half after it began by unknown troublemakers.<\/p>\n
The participants reported being attacked by a mob of \u201cthugs\u201d who attempted to throw rocks and glass at them, but the clash was over quickly as volunteers securing the protest intervened to stop it.<\/p>\n
This was not the first time a women\u2019s rights march was attacked in Tahrir Square.<\/p>\n
Last March, and on International Women\u2019s Day, a march of tens of women was attacked by a cynical mob of men who did not like women protesting for more rights.<\/p>\n
Several female protesters were injured and one woman had to have 8 stitches in her head. Almost all of them were groped and sexually assaulted in the attack.<\/p>\n
A 2008 study by the Egyptian Center for Women\u2019s Rights (ECWR) found that well over two-thirds of Egyptian women are sexually harassed daily in the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n The participants held signs that read \u201cIt is my right to protest safely,\u201d \u201cGroping your sister is shameful for the square\u201d and \u201cBe a man and protect her instead of harassing her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are fed up,\u201d protester Mai Abdel Hafez, 24, told Bikyamasr.com.<\/p>\n