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May 14, 2012 (Alarabiya)
Egypt’s liberal Free Egyptians Party (FEP) declared its support for the calls by women’s rights organizations and NGOs in the country, which have called for woman’s rights, an Egyptian online news website reported on Monday.
The party said it stands against “the phenomenon of sexual harassment” and called for the passing of a law criminalizing the act, Egypt’s Bikyamasr news website reported.
According to the report, the party condemned in a statement the “shameful stance of the female parliament members of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), who stand against a woman’s right to defend herself and refuse to condemn the man who assaulted the woman and only blame the society and the woman, who is the victim.”
Two-thirds of the Egyptian women experience sexual harassment on a daily basis, according to a 2008 statistics published by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights.
FEP member Mina Mounir was quoted as saying that the party supports women in their fight against sexual harassment “which became widespread in Egyptian society and must be combatted, through community outreach, and encouraging citizens to be positive and not allow harassment of girls in the street, or public transportation.”
On Saturday, the FEP took part in a protest organized by women’s rights organizations in central Cairo against the sexual harassment phenomenon.
Numerous obstacles stood in the way of a legislation to penalize men who commit the act of harassment against women before the Jan. 25 popular uprising that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak.
(Writing by Abeer Tayel)
