Women: Beware of Egypt

I recently gave a talk about the Arab Spring at a college in the Pacific Northwest and met a young female journalism student who said she was envious that I’ve been to Cairo. She considers herself something of an Egyptologist and can’t wait to go there herself.

She was blissfully unaware of how badly women are treated in Egypt, including foreign women like herself. I’ve heard one extreme sexual harassment horror story after another from women I know who have visited Cairo. I don’t personally know anyone who has been sexually assaulted in Egypt, but from my informal survey of female travelers there it appears the likelihood of a foreign woman experiencing extreme harassment approaches 100 percent.

So I’m not remotely surprised to find out about this:





I have no idea why this is such a huge problem in Egypt. It’s not because Egypt is Arab or Muslim or Middle Eastern. Lebanon isn’t like this. I understand Syria isn’t either, though I’m less certain. My wife has been to Morocco, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Libya. She experienced minor sexual harassment in Tunisia and Libya, but it was the sort that was annoying rather than horrifying. She wants to revisit both countries despite it.

The stories I’ve heard from women in Egypt, however, involve harassment that is aggressive, physical, and sometimes terrifying. I will never take my wife to Egypt. Never

I won't presume to tell women I don't know that they shouldn't go there. For years I've had people tell me I shouldn't visit places like Lebanon and Iraq. It gets old after a while. But women who want to visit Egypt need to know what they might be in for.


Photo Credit: Al Jazeera English

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