For several years women in Egypt have experienced Sexual Harassment. To this day Egypt has not had a law defining sexual harassment.
Perpetrators of sexual crime are rarely punished in Egypt and women’s rights are not given enough attention.
The National Council for Women proposed a new law to protect women and mandate prison time; yet to this day it has not yet been passed.
Many have stated that instability in the country have lead to its delay to be enforced.
In 2013 a women’s police force had been formulated to deal with physical and sexual crimes against women’s.
Getting victims to report the crime appears to be the hardest part and women are often blamed for provoking the trouble.
Sexual Harassment has plagued Egypt for decades but it is only recently since the revolution have we seen it become more violent and organised.
There are severe forms of sexual violence that have escalated and have amounted to gang rape.
Many Egyptians have turned a blind eye afraid that it would possibly tarnish the revolution and ruin the countries reputation.
Under the new laws, harassers face from six months to five years in prison and repeat offenders would see there sentences doubled.
The lack of strict definitive rule has lead to Human Rights Campaigners describing the situation as “horrifying”; Human Rights watch has described it as an epidemic due to negligence and lack of government response.
This ultimately is due to the failure to prioritise this issue and the culture of impunity.
Activists hope that the government will introduce a broader law that outlines all forms of sexual violence and streamlines the judicial process.