Please free our streets of sexual harassment

When we hear the word “street” in the context of the Middle East and the Arab Spring, our minds turn to movements, demonstrations and sit-ins. As a word, it has achieved an almost reverence, with connotations of goodness and those who embrace it are seen to reflect wisdom, justice and the interest of the people. Yet, the “street” we are talking about today is altogether different, ugly and criminal – a place where sexual harassment is rife. Sexual harassment is an increasing phenomenon in our community. We can no longer try and claim that it’s a concept alien to the values, customs and traditions of our culture and society, which doesn’t require addressing. We must realise that there is pressing need for in-depth and accurate research about this blight to our streets. Victims of harassment are women and girls of all ages, tastes and backgrounds. They are veiled and unveiled, old and young. Our streets are no longer safe for them, especially for those whose work or study obligates them staying out into the evenings, looking for a taxi or a service. The virility of the perpetrators fills their mouths with odious words and sentences and, sometimes, they express themselves not just with their tongues but with their hands and their eyes. In expressing the most disgusting thoughts, they don’t discriminate against age. It’s not uncommon to find boys “flirting” with women old enough to be their mother and, likewise, men harassing girls the same age as their granddaughters. Indeed, even minors or perhaps, more accurately, especially minors are an attractive target to the harassers.   They prowl the streets in their cars looking for their next victim and every woman is a potential target. When they see a girl standing in the street, perhaps waiting there for a taxi, they draw closer, beep and often lean out of the vehicle, paid scant attention to their wise words we are accustomed to reading on public buses: “do not put your head or hands out of the windows” or “it is forbidden to talk to the driver.” Days ago, a considerate lady warned me that it is no longer safe for women to use a certain pedestrian bridge. These deviants have started to use it as a place to set their “traps.” They stand there, ostentatiously with the excuse of crossing the road or merely to enjoy the flow of traffic. Sometimes they actually just hide in wait. Then, when a potential victim turns up, they flash their genitalia, seemingly under the impression that this is an offer too hard to refuse. In fact, it is both disgusting and shameful.    In another incident, a fellow journalist recently told me, her body visibly shaking with anger, about a man riding a KIA bus who looked out the window at her and offered 10 dinars if she’d sit next to him. While he may have thought this to be a generous reward for the privilege, it was, of course, a cheap and disrespectful act from a cheap and disrespectful man.    It seems that harassment has become an occupation for those without any other profession. I see unemployed youths, loitering for hours in the streets and squares. They have nothing to do except launching despicable words, left, right and centre. Some of them seem to have forgotten how to walk normally, so much time do they spend pointing at body parts which should remain private, in an effort to try and show off their virile masculinity. Meanwhile, some taxi drivers seem to have taken up harassment as a second job. They don’t even bother stopping for men, preferring to only “pick up” girls. They adjust the angle and direction of their mirrors, so they can follow their victim whenever and wherever they might move. Even their choice of music is geared towards attempted seduction, while their pathetic attempts at conversation only revolve around one thing. Even those who are old and married aren’t always innocent, bad mouthing their wives as a precursor to words of love, affection and the possibility of alternative relationships. And yet, even now, when you discuss the phenomenon with people, some still blame the women themselves, the very victims of this plight. This is not only ridiculous on the basis that this scourge, as we have seen, is being aimed at women from every background, whether “semi-naked” or fully veiled, but for more fundamental reasons. All women have the right to safety and security, whatever they choose to wear. So, how can we protect women from harassment? How can we free our streets from this disgusting phenomenon? Can someone, some authority or some government please implement the slogan: “2013: Safe Streets for Women – Streets Without Harassment and Without Harassers.” --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.