As the first project to tackle sexual harassment in Egypt, I find your project and efforts admirable however I do have my reservation on the practicality of the map project. Basically, I do not believe there is such thing as problematic areas; instead there are problematic behavior by people. And so you can not map moving objects (people) if you have no idea what their parameters are.  Hence, problematic people roam the streets of Cairo freely and a map will never succeed in identifying them and even if it does it will never track their activities and their identities so your efforts will be wasted in recognizing the problem. But I thought you already have recognized it otherwise you wouldn't have this NGO.

Instead I suggest you focus your efforts in solving the real cause of the problem. The reality in Egypt is that there is no respect for the female figure. In the Egyptian society these days the female figure is subordinate to the male so it's natural that men feel free to harass and bully women everywhere. And to say the truth harassment is not restricted to the street only but it's also in public offices, in schools and in all levels of interactions etc. The only reason why it's so problematic in the street is because there is a sense of chaos so individuals think they can get away with anything. To prove my point, I suggest you go down alone in the street, then go again with a man and walk the same stretch of distance you covered alone and you will notice two things. First, how the eyes and the words have been silenced and that harassment has been reduced by 80-90%. This is just to prove that the problem is about disrespect of the female figure. I hope my point is clear.

As for solutions, I suggest to focus your efforts and money in going in the field. Talking with community members, head of mosques and religious centers, clubs and social groups who are influential in shaping the opinions of the every day man in the street is the step forward. They have to change the opinion of the people not of the harasser (they will keep on doing it until even one else in the street is against them!). Once the people recognize that harassing is a wrong-sick behavior (with disregard of what the woman is wearing) and that if they stand up to the woman's side, then it will yield respect in the Egyptian street again cause then anyone complaining of harassment will find everyone in their side and not In the side of the assaulter.  In parallel you need to work on the women, they need to voice their dissatisfaction. They have to realize that the only way sexual harassment is going to stop is by saying NO! and Enough! Shame will bread more harassment and frustration. I find the kareema mokhtaar campaign to tackle population growth and use of birth control was very effective because it did tackle the real problem which is ignorance and misconceptions. This is the same problem.

Hi I like your Idea its sort of like mine ,but different.Cyber safety and prevention is needed and simple .The cost is controled . If you can check my idea out if you can...let me know what you think.Cyber Chaperone aka Safety net,My Online 411.                                       Thanks   Cynthia Dimaria

This sounds like compelling use of technology if the reporting out is clear and consistent.

Harassment of women is, indeed, a very real problem in Egypt (and elsewhere) - I know this firsthand and from colleagues. However, I'm confused about how this project will work. To whom are the reports of sexual harassment given? The police? Subscribers? ECWR? Also, how will the reports be used on a practical level -- just for women to avoid certain areas? Or will the maps be taken to community leaders/community representatives of areas where harassment is frequently reported, to enlist their support to stop such?

I would like to see this project partner with other programs so that, rather than just reporting harassment, women know what to do when they are harassed, and men are educated about not being perpetrators and telling their fellow men that such harassment is NOT acceptable.

I'm a dual American-Egyptian female citizen. I live in Cairo. I believe the harrassment stats are completely overblown. I rarely get harrassed and I never have witnessed any harassment of Egyptian women on the streets here. Foreign women do get it in the tourist areas but this is nowhere as widespread as these stats suggest. I can see now the stats may have been made up so that this organization could fleece the US government for money to do projects like this.

 If there is a problem that we need to deal with, it is not the alleged 83 or 98 percent getting harrassed, it's the 98 percent of women who are doormats and do nothing about it. If some man touches you, hit him. If a man makes an obscene remark, shame him, then and there. Anonymous reports by SMS will change nothing and actually could lead to false slanderous reports. If even 5-10 percent of women were to give the men hell publicly at the time and place they do the harrassment, we would see an end to this problem as the men would know there are social risks to their behavior.

It is also technically, socially and economically not feasible. You are looking for certain cell phone models as it won't work with all models. So now women need to have to be able to afford the latest phones to protect themselves? They have to be literate to be able to compose an SMS message? This is a project for the benefit of the rich and educated only. We all have shoes no matter our background and that is what we need to use to defend ourselves. And how can you map where the harassment is happening when GPS on phones is ILLEGAL in Egypt???

 And US taxpayer dollars should not be used to solve Egypt's problems. They should be spent on projects in the US only. This project is just to take US government money and put large amounts in specific Americans' pockets as all USAID projects are designed to do.

If money needs to be spent on anything, it's to encourage every woman to carry a shibshib in her handbag.

great

Unfortunatley, I didn't find out about this project in time to vote, but I wanted to express my support for the initiative.   Having lived in Egypt and worked and befriended a number of Egyptian and expat women, I know that sexual harassment on the streets in Egypt is a common experience we all shared.     Unfortunately, the social norms prevent women from speaking out and the lack of an institutional framework to deal with harassment keeps women from reporting it formally.     Without statistics it is easy to deny just how prevalent harassment is.     HarassMap would not only allow women to report their experience, but also stand in solidarity realizing they are not alone.     Furthermore, it will provide a concrete tool for action that will resonate with policymakers and politicians that thus far have refused to recognize the true extent of what is happenining.