In October of 2009, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi ignited a heated debate when he said the niqab was merely a tradition not linked to religion, and that women would be banned from wearing it in schools and universities.

A few days ago, an article was published on the Daily News Egypt website, about how some Egyptian women see the veil as a protection against sexual harassment on the streets. This is not a surprise, given the shocking statistics that were released a couple weeks ago that stated that 98% of foreign women and 83% of local women are sexually harassed in Egypt.

However, I was struck by the tone in the article conveyed through Egyptian women who were interviewed. One of the women interviewed, Marwa, implies that sexual harassment would exist as long as young men looking for work and housing remain frustrated in their efforts. "What will change? The cost of living? Unemployment? Or the excessively high cost of housing?" she asks, adding that "As long as young people don't have the means to get married, harassment will continue," she added.

I do not deny that on a more realistic (and practical) level, this could be an immediate 'solution' to the sexual harassment that Egyptian (and foreign) women experience on a daily basis. Also, I fully support women who make a personal choice to cover themselves (whether with a hijab or a niqab) due to religious reasons. But my problem with Marwa's statement lies in the fact that such a solution does not at all get to the root of the problem.

Unemployment is a huge problem today all across the world, not just in Egypt. Cost of housing is higher than ever in different metropolitan cities, not just in Cairo. However, this does not mean that in each of these cities men resort to sexually harassing women walking on the street to relieve their "frustration." I feel that resorting to the explanation that Marwa uses, which I've also come across before in different articles, leaves an ambiguous space in which the harassers are pardoned.

It is true that unemployment and high costs of living exacerbate the problems that women experience on the streets of Egypt, but I feel the efforts to relieve these problems should be accompanied by dealing with the more fundamental root of the problem of gender discrimination. I also feel that what should be emphasized here (and would work better on a practical level, as well) is the concept of personal safety. Regardless of your gender, age, or status as a foreigner or local, nobody likes to feel unsafe, especially in public spaces.

Egypt recently passed a law saying that sexual harassment will be punished with fines from now on. This is definitely a first step in addressing the issue, but the civil society in Egypt must also make sure that it does not remain as an 'empty' law, and that the law is properly enforced. Furthermore, as I stated above, this punishment must be accompanied by a positive reinforcement and education of personal safety and gender equality. These things will, as significant changes in societies always do, only show over a slow period of time. But it is imperative that no matter how small, we should make sure to watch that the steps are being made toward equal rights for Egypt's citizens.

For more information, see the following article:
http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=27535