* Hedy Ibrahim is a legal advisor at the Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance and has studied political science and history at the American University in Cairo and received a master’s degree in international law (LLM in International Human Rights and Terrorism Law) from Lancaster University.

After celebrating the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi  in Tahrir Square on July 3rd, my husband and I walked back on Qasr El Nil Bridge. I was overwhelmed with emotions; I felt joy, accomplishment and above all, hope for the first time in quite sometime.

All until I was sexually harassed.This random man groped me from behind. All my joy, all my feelings of accomplishment and all the hope that I had collapsed.

It took me less than a moment to turn around, but there were no less than five men walking directly behind me, and no less than hundreds of other men walking on the bridge. It was impossible to tell who he was. I had a hunch that it was the man on my right, but how was I ever going to be sure? More importantly, if I had been sure of who he was, what was I going to do?

I was frustrated on many levels.

(1) The fact that I could not identify who he was broke something inside me. It was no longer my decision; I was forcibly harassed, which made me feel directly dominated, and then I did not have the power to take the decision of how I wanted to react, which made me feel indirectly dominated.

(2) Had I identified the harasser and even given him the response that I wanted to, I would not have been able to bring him to the police station because there is no legal remedy for such a ‘small’ act.

(3) What I experienced was only the beginning of what hundreds of other women were subdued to in Tahrir Square and elsewhere in the streets of Egypt: rape.

In no attempt to undermine rape – for God’s sake my entire master’s dissertation was on rape – this article focuses on sexual harassment, as it is a serious widespread crime that many women are subjected to everyday.

Sexual harassment and rape are both crimes under the Egyptian Penal Code. “Great,” you thought to yourself, I bet. As the law usually is, it is not that simple.

For instance, did you know that we are not clearly protected from sexual harassment under our law? Did you know that we do not have the legal right to be free from sexual harassment? Did you know that sexual harassment is not mentioned once in the Egyptian Penal Code?

Two of the articles (Article 306 and Article 269) that are meant to address sexual harassment do not directly mention sexual harassment. For instance, Article 306 states:

“Any person who exposes another to indecent assault publicly via words, actions or gestures shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than six months and not exceeding two years, and with a fine of not less than LE 500 and not more than LE 2,000. The punishment in the preceding paragraph also applies if the indecent assault took place via telephone or by any other means of telecommunication.”

Article 269 also does not mention sexual harassment; it stipulates:

Any person who incites others to act of indecency in the public way shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than three months. If the offender commits a similar act within one year from the date of final sentence for the first crime, the punishment shall be imprisonment for not less than two years and with a fine of not less than LE 500 and not more than LE 3,000.”

While some may argue that the ambiguity of these articles could work in favor of the issue, the fact that the Egyptian Penal Code fails to define the term sexual harassment makes it very difficult to try and fit sexual harassment under either of these articles because no one know what it legally is.

According to HarassMap, these articles have been used in sexual harassment cases brought forth.

It is still horrific, however, that the Egyptian Penal Code does not address the issue explicitly given its high prevalence and its seriousness.

Government talks on enforcing stricter laws against sexual harassment have been ongoing. In October 2012 the government pledged that it would make it its responsibility to establish stricter laws against sexual harassment, but nothing has been put to action.

I believe, however, that the problem is not with the lack of a strict law. It is in the lack of a properly drafted law that defines sexual harassment and in the lack of enforcement of the law. So long as the term is not legally defined and bystanders, police members and the society place the blame on the victims and let harassers get away with it, the crime will only continue to grow.

One cannot deny the many attempts over the years by civil society to advocate for the evolution of the law, help victims, and change the patriarchal social perspective on the issue. There have also been the occasional heroines such as Samia Ibrahim who took their cases to the courts and the public and fought hard for their rights. Then again, Samia Ibrahim’s case is rather a more progressed case of sexual harassment; sexual assault.

I have kept myself engaged in the issue by writing a few comments here and there on Facebook and posting a couple of articles every now and then. Now I chose to turn it up a notch and involve myself even more. I chose to write this article as an attempt to engage louder in the discussion, as an attempt to help raise the awareness of what kind of legal framework us women fall within when it comes to sexual harassment. I also chose to write this article because by writing it I feel empowered again. The joy is coming back to me. The feelings of accomplishment; and above all, the hope.