Egyptian views on street assaults

Three young women in Cairo give their reactions to news that women were assaulted by crowds of young men in the city during Eid celebrations.

Read about the background to this story

HANIN HANAFY, DEVELOPMENT WORKER, CAIRO, 28

I think chaos is spreading in Egypt.

There are the social and economic problems which mean that there's no work and people are too poor to get married.

Blogs broke the story that has scandalised Egyptians (Picture: misrdigital.com)

There are problems with a lack of democracy. And also a lack of basic services such as decent education and transport.

You can't even walk safely along the street, there are so many road accidents.

It all points to one thing: a state which does not protect its people or provide them with the basics.

The targets for all these problems become the women - or Christians - who are the most vulnerable.

I can believe the police did nothing to help, because it has happened before.

In May last year women taking part in a political demonstration were sexually harassed in front of police.

Some incidents were encouraged by the officers, to frighten women away from demonstrations. This is the way police often handle security in public places.

But at the end of the day the police are not the problem; the issue is one of a state and society in collapse.

DINA ORIBY, INTERNATIONAL MUSLIM WOMEN'S NGO, CAIRO, 27

This is quite shocking. This incident was an attack on all our values. It went beyond everything we condemn.

In Egypt we don't approve of having intimate relationships in the street; of people kissing or holding hands.

So how come we have reached such an extreme of touching and bothering people?

I do think it reflects the state of corruption we live in.

I'm talking about a lack of good education and upbringing. I think the role of parenthood and Islamic preaching is missing.

We're concerned with how to pray and fast, but not with how to bring up good citizens.

Parents need to know how to punish and how to reward.

The state schools are deteriorating more and more. There are some good schools, but they only take the children of the wealthy.

I don't blame the police for not doing more. They are not paid enough and not appreciated properly. They are poor people in the first place, they are miserable and suffering too.

We have a problem in Egypt that our rights aren't protected anyway.

ELHAM FATHI, TRANSLATOR, CAIRO, 24

I was shocked when I read about this in the blogs. I nearly cried; I pictured myself having to face this kind of shameful experience.

I think there are many reasons young men are behaving like this. It shows how desperate they have become through poverty and unemployment. This means they have to wait longer before they can get married.

The media also has a role to play in this through the images it presents. Movies show heroes as drug addicts and outlaws.

Video clips and commercials use women's bodies and bad language to sell things.

I can believe that the police did nothing to help the women, because I have had experience of this myself.

Once, when I was being kerb-crawled by a man in a car I ran to a policeman for help. He said it was none of his business.