In the beginning of September I was lucky enough to take my first trip to the Middle East, seeing the remarkable countries of Egypt and Jordan. Before leaving on this adventure, I prepared in the usual way by getting shots, appropriate clothes, and handy travel books. But what I wasn’t prepared for was hearing from one of my AAUW colleagues that Egypt is one of the worst countries in the world for street harassment of women. In a recent survey, 83 percent of Egyptian women reported experiencing harassment, and two-thirds of Egyptian men said they engage in harassment; more than 70 percent of the women said they were wearing a veil when they were harassed. This video chronicling the popularity of karate for self-defense against harassment gives you a sense of how desperate women are for their safety.
I had read that the best tactic to respect the cultures of these countries and avoid harassment was to try to remain completely covered, so I packed my bag with long sleeves, pants, and long skirts for the 100 degree weather! What I experienced on the street was a little different than expected, though. In Egypt you cannot walk for one minute without being hassled to take a taxi or to buy something or to ride a camel (yes, most places have camels at your service). And this hassling is constant; you cannot get away from it, because no matter how covered your body may be you are clearly a tourist. Initially I felt that I was being hassled not so much because I was a woman but because I was a tourist. Often the men would hound my friends and me and even follow us down the street continuing to hassle us. This behavior definitely made me question whether they would have done that if we had had a male in our group of four women. There were also several instances in which we were called out with “gendered” language — such as “Let me see your beautiful eyes,” “Show off those legs,” or the best/worst one, “Talk to me Baby Spice.” My fellow female travelers unfortunately have faced much worse experiences of street harassment in other countries around the globe.
Facing this hassling did not ruin our days seeing this amazing country or make me worry for my safety, but it was extremely tiring and just plain annoying. It gave me a keen personal sense, though, of how easy and acceptable it is for men to harass women on these streets and of what the women of Egypt must face every day.