harassment against female, some facts from Egypt

Abstract

Background: Sexual harassment is the most prevalent form of violence against women and the most abrasive. Women are harassed in their jobs, schools, universities, and even at homes. Methodology: A convenience sampling method was used to recruit 900 Egyptian females (between 15 and 60 years old), after giving expressed oral consent, using a prepared questionnaire that included ten questions about knowledge, type, and response to harassment. Participants were divided into two groups: group A of 500 female patients of non-medical background seeking medical advice in Kasr-Alainy hospital and Group B of 400 medical student females. The participants’ epidemiological data were collected including age, marital status, residency, education, and status of work. Results: the study showed that the verbal type of harassment was the commonest (70%), school or street were the most common places of exposure (84%), the perpetrator was not known to the victim (97%). 75.1% of physical violence claims were in the form of simple wounds. Police service against harassment was known only to (62 %), and only (11%) of victims tried to contact police. Conclusion: The safety of women requires a multi-disciplinary preventive strategy, awareness about different types of violence against women is a crucial initial step, improving women’s access to resources, and increasing the role of anti-harassment units in police as well as many universities in Egypt.