This document presents a thesis on Arab women, red lines: the anti-sexual harassment movement in Egypt. This thesis traced the development of the phenomenon in Egypt, and emphasize the importance of formulating a national response appropriate to the Egyptian context, rather than implanting the international human rights regime’s formula and approach to the issue. This contextual response exists in the form of an Anti-Sexual Harassment (A-SH) movement, composed of Egyptian civil society groups and latent networks of female victims and their allies. This thesis examines prominent social movement theories for their capacity to explain the rise of this movement, and critiques them for their dependence on Western social movements as models of analysis, and subsequent assumptions of non-authoritarian state contexts. In conclusion, the contextual and local focus of the A-SH movement has allowed it to achieve societal impact and to shift public understanding of sexual harassment. In identifying the impending opportunities and challenges presented by Egypt’s authoritarian regime and increasing foreign involvement, it's necessary that the movement remain autonomous and contextual in focus.

CAWTAR | 2019-06-10 10:58:03

Studies

​Violence against women// Gender based violence//Sexual harassment //Arab women// Sexual violence// Physical violence// Verbal abuse//Rape//Psychological violence//​​​