Veil fuels male lust, Egyptian women say

Cairo

In a Muslim country where the numbers of women wearing the veil are rising, and so -- by most accounts -- are incidents of groping and catcalls in the streets, the message in ads circulating anonymously in e-mails here in Egypt is clear:

"A veil to protect, or eyes will molest," one warns.

The words sit over two illustrations, one comparing a veiled woman, her hair and neck covered in the manner known to Muslims as hijab, to a wrapped candy, untouched and pure. The other picture shows an unveiled woman, hair flying wildly and hip jutting, next to a candy that has had its wrapper stripped off and is now covered in flies.

The campaign comes at a time of converging debate on two keenly felt issues in Egypt: the growing social pressure on Muslim women to veil themselves; and the rising incidence of sexual harassment of women by strangers.

Surprisingly, some Egyptian women say their veils don't protect against harassment, as the ads argue, but fuel it. A survey released this summer supports the view.

"These guys are animals. If they saw a female dog, they would harass it," said Hind Sayed, 20, a sidewalk vendor, staring coldly at a knot of male vendors who stood grinning a few feet from her.

In accord with her interpretation of Islamic law, which says women should dress modestly, Sayed wore a flowing black robe and black veil. They covered all but her hands and her pale face with its drawn-on, expressive eyebrows. Still, Sayed said, she daily endures suggestive comments from male customers and fellow vendors.

"I think a woman who wears hijab can be more provocative to them," Sayed added. "The more covered up you are, the more interesting you are to them."

Mona Eltahawy, 41, an Egyptian social commentator who now lives, unveiled, in the United States, said she's concluded that the increase in veiling has contributed somehow to the increase in harassment.

"The more women veil, the less men learn to behave as decent and civilized members of society," she said.

A new survey by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights makes harassment on the streets appear not a risk but a virtual certainty: 98 per cent of foreign women and 83 per cent of Egyptian women surveyed said they had been sexually harassed in the country.

Among Egyptian women, 72 per cent of those who described harassment said they were veiled.