It’s no secret or surprise that we live in a male dominant society. Almost anything is accepted or excused and people would just say “feeha eih? Ragel”. We live in a society that constantly blames women for anything that goes wrong even if the men are the ones at fault. This is exactly what happened to 32-year-old Taghreed Abdel Rahman.
A few days ago, Taghreed Abdel Rahman posted a video on Facebook tearfully explaining what happened to her. She goes on to explain how a man in her building she personally doesn’t know has verbally harassed her daily. Abdel-Rahman then adds that her neighbor probably viewed her as an indecent woman because she is not veiled and has appeared on television so sometimes she returns home late after shoots.
Moreover, she said that not only did he verbally harass her but would also look at her in ways that deeply hurt her. When she bought a bike to run errands and the harassment got worse, she called the bawab to complain saying “he should stand politely or not stand at all”. This didn’t please her neighbor which then made him physically attack her and injuring her. Taghreed has since filed a police report and is still waiting for action to be taken against the attacker.
What is so wrong about riding a bike? What is so wrong about a woman defending herself? And who gives anyone the right to judge and harass a person? Nothing. Women should not be held accountable for anything as long as they do not harm others. Unfortunately, this is the same mentality that thinks women who get raped is the woman’s fault.
Taghreed did not do anything wrong. And neither did any woman who faced similar harassment from men in Egypt. It doesn’t just stop there but there are many women in Egypt who actually think the same way.
We live in a society that judges women no matter what they do. They claim that was a woman dresses, walks, talks and even looks can all contribute to her getting harassed or raped. Why is that? Why do people think they have the right to judge others when they’re not God? What is the reason for people to interfere into other people’s lives who are living without hurting anyone?
You have every right to be conservative and even disagree with certain lifestyle but you do not have the right to harass others!
