Female police manages to control harassment in Egypt

Egyptian policewomen who are part of a new anti-harassment force patrol in Cairo on the first day of Eid Al-Fitr, Friday, July 17, 2015. The force is a new initiative by the Ministry of Interior to combat sexual harassment in the streets, which in past years has spiked in Cairo during the holiday celebrations with the crowds of rowdy men in the streets (AP Photo/Roger Anis)

Head of fighting violence against women department, colonel Manal Atef said that female police forces managed to limit sexual harassment in Eid and other festivals.

and she added in an interview on local TV, that harassment is a society’s problem that requires efforts from all society’s organizations, and she adds that she sees that misuse of internet is one of the main reasons behind the increase in harassment rate.

she talks more specifically of the new rule, saying if the harasser is under 18 years old, his parents are contacted and are required to make sure that incident doesn’t happen again. She assures that female forces have been working in the police for 33 years, with five women generals, and a big part of their job to fight violence and injustice women face. Stating that the fighting violence against women department was founded in 2013, and stopping harassment is part of their job.

She also says that they’re careful with secrecy of notification of harassment issuing, also she notices how most harassers are underage so no legal actions could be taken. Starting from 2014 a new law was issued giving harsher punishments for harassers with going to jail for 6 months and paying a fine 3000 LE.