STOP, DROP and ROLL. These are the safety instruction given to a person caught on fire, a situation that is unanimously recognized as a crisis. On the other hand, there seems does not seem to be a universal guide to how women should react in the case of sexual harassment or assault, a situation that could be just as life threatening as fire. Sexual harassment is a phenomenon that has been perpetuating across Egypt for years and has lead the country to become one of the most dangerous places for women. Why has it become predominant? There are many cultural clouds hovering over the epidemic making it harder to resolve. To understand sexual harassment in the Egyptian social context, one needs to understand how sexual harassment and assault are defined under the Egyptian constitution. Sexual harassment and assault have four different definitions in the Egyptian constitution, each with its own legal penalties and consequences. The first is verbal harassment or “Ta’arod lel Ghair” which according to Article 306 in the Egyptian law is any form of verbal harassment in public or private space. This also constitutes verbal harassment through telecommunication…
