Video of man’s unwanted advances sparks debate in Egypt
cairo — It might have been another (hash)MeToo moment: An Egyptian woman says a man stalked her at a bus stop, made inappropriate advances, and only backed off when she began filming him with her cellphone.
But when she posted the video on Facebook, it ignited an online debate in which many Egyptians, including women, took the man’s side. Some say he was politely flirting and the woman overreacted, while others have speculated about what she was wearing, suggesting she was the one at fault.
Sexual harassment, mostly ranging from catcalls to occasional pinching or grabbing, is rampant in Egypt. Polls have found that a majority of both men and women in the conservative country believe it is justified if women dress “provocatively” in public. That may explain the response to the brief video Menna Gubran posted on August 15. In it, a man later identified as Mahmoud Soliman can be seen approaching her on a suburban Cairo street and inviting her to coffee at On the Run, a nearby convenience store. She politely declines, and he apologises and walks away.
In a subsequent video and in TV interviews, Gubran said Soliman had circled in his car three times as she waited for a bus and made comments that made her feel uncomfortable. At one point, she went into a nearby supermarket, hoping he would leave. When she returned, he came by again and got out of his car, at which point she
says she began filming. Soliman, who has also given TV interviews, denies doing anything wrong and disputed her account of circling in his car. “I just invited her to drink coffee, and I never bothered her. When she said I was bothering her, I apologised and left,” he said.
The video provoked a torrent of angry responses, but while many praised Gubran for outing an alleged harasser, just as many accused her of overreacting or questioned her motives. “The man was speaking in a very polite and respectful way and she as any Egyptian woman called him a harasser,” a man who identified himself as Mustafa El Sokarri wrote on Twitter.
Others asked what Gubran, who does not appear in the video, was wearing, with some fishing personal photos out of her social media accounts. Many treated the incident as a joke. The Arabic phrase for “Let’s drink coffee” trended on social media, and “On the Run Guy” even enjoyed a moment of local fame.
The diverging responses reflect a long-running debate in Egypt over what constitutes sexual harassment and who is at fault. —
The man was speaking in a very polite and respectful way and she as any Egyptian woman called him a harasser
Mustafa El Sokarri, an Egyptian