Natasha Smith gives a grueling account of her experience here.
Folks, this is not anomaly, Western women regardless of who they are, caught up in a large crowd of Muslims in Cairo, stand a big chance of being pawed, groped and raped. This should serve as a warning for any women wanting to visit Egypt, know very well the risks involved before making a decision to travel there.
“Please God. Please make it stop.”
I have been forced to leave Cairo prematurely following a horrific sexual and physical attack in Tahrir Square.
The atmosphere was one of jubilation, excitement, and happiness as I walked, accompanied by two male companions for safety along Kasr El Nil bridge. I had had an awful day, caused by problems in personal relationships, so I was so happy to be in such a wonderful environment, getting such amazing footage. Women, children and fathers smiled, waved, and cheered happily at the camera, calling out the widely used phrase “welcome to Egypt! Welcome!”. Fireworks lit up the sky. It was a moving and captivating experience.
Just as I realised I had reached the end of the bridge, I noticed the crowd became thicker, and decided immediately to turn around to avoid Tahrir Square. My friends and I tried to leave. I tried to put my camera back in my rucksack.
But in a split second, everything changed. Men had been groping me for a while, but suddenly, something shifted. I found myself being dragged from my male friend, groped all over, with increasing force and aggression. I screamed. I could see what was happening and I saw that I was powerless to stop it. I couldn’t believe I had got into this situation.
H/T:Vlad
Just read it. Absolutely horrible!!
I read it as well and I agree, potb. Reading it I felt my adrenalin pumping and my anger rising. After having finished reading, my anger turns to resignation and a feeling of sadness. After all of that – including how the hospital and police treated her, she STILL insists in believing that what she experienced wasn’t an expression of the culture of the land. She refused to see that it was the (few) men trying to intervene and help her get away that were going against their culture, not the other way around.
“I am determined to return to this wonderful country and city that I love, and meet its people once again. I am determined to challenge the stereotypes and preconceptions that people have of Arab women back in the UK and the US. I have so much to say, and I will say it, in time.”
What are those stereotypes stereotypes again? That the men feel free to grope women in public and in large groups they may turn into complete animals and rape anyone they come across? There are individual rapists in every culture (through more in some), but when large groups of people does something together, that’s CULTURE!
Too many people seems to think that culture is what kind of food you eat and what kind of dances you dance. But that’s a very very small part of what a culture is. A Culture is the rules for how you act in given situations. How you act towards each other and towards strangers. That woman may have liked the food, but the real taste of the Egyptian culture is what she got in Tahrir Square.