Von Allahs Horden gehetzt

Frauentag in Ägypten


Egyptian women's rights protest marred by hecklers



08.03.2011

CAIRO (AP) — A protest by hundreds of Egyptian women demanding equal rights and an end to sexual harassment turned violent Tuesday when crowds of men heckled and shoved the demonstrators, telling them to go home where they belong.

The women — some in headscarves and flowing robes, others in jeans — had marched to Cairo's central Tahrir Square to celebrate International Women's Day. But crowds of men soon outnumbered them and chased them out.

"They said that our role was to stay home and raise presidents, not to run for president," said Farida Helmy, a 24-year old journalist.

Sexual harassment remains widespread in Egypt, where women often are afraid to report sexual assault or harassment for fear they and their families will be stigmatized. A 2008 survey by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights found that 83 percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women in Cairo said they had been harassed — while 62 percent of men admitted to harassing.

Tahrir Square was the epicenter of the protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak last month after nearly 30 years in power. Women in Egypt had reported that Tahrir had been free of the groping and leering endemic in the country, but on Feb. 11, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was sexually assaulted and beaten on the final night of the 18-day revolt. The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual assault unless they agree to be identified.

At Tuesday's march, men scolded protesters and said their concerns were not urgent in the aftermath of the uprising. When the women argued back, some were verbally abused or groped. Others were beaten and had to be ripped away from the groups of men.

Mostafa Hussein, 30, said many protesters had to flee the area and hide in a park nearby.

"They were running for their lives and the army had to fire a shot in the air to break up the mob chasing them," said Hussein. >weiterlesen

Wunschvorstellungen und die Wirklichkeit

Die Wunschvorstellungen von der Arabischen Demokratie, die selbstverständlich nichts mit dem "westlichen Feminismus" und westlicher Demokratie zu tun hat, von Elsa S. Maloof erinnert an die von Nawal el Sadaawi, die auch keine Einmischung in die islamische Revolution (im Iran!) wünschte.

Die Hetze der Männerhorden gegen Frauen ist nicht nur islamische oder arabische Spezialität. Auch in Indien gibt es regelrechte Männerjagden auf Frauen, die durch die Dörfer getrieben werden, wie ein englischer Reporter einmal über eine solche Hatz aus einem indischen Dorf berichtete. Das Foto zeigte eine junge Mutter, die mit einem Kind auf dem Rücken durch eine johlende Männerhorde rannte, die zu beiden Strassenseiten sich zum Spiessrutenlaufen der Frau formiert hatten, eines der grausamen Bild. die die Realität des Rudelwesens zeigen, das in unseren Medien nicht erscheint.