Cover Yourself ……and Where’s all the Harassment?

I have read so many stories and articles about women being harassed on the streets of Cairo. I came prepared for it.

I guess I need to start by asking what constitutes harassment? There’s the obvious ones like touching, groping, pinching and name calling but what about staring? As a blonde hair, blue eyed female I get stared at a lot.

Coming from a country such as the United States, we are a melting pot of people. Our country prides themselves on being diverse. You can find people of all colors,nationalities and religions in the US. Not to mention, I sort of blend right in especially in the little state I’m from, New Hampshire. But here in Egypt, its quite different. Egypt is full of …well, Egyptians. There is not a huge population of foreigners here. Egyptians tend to marry and have children with other Egyptians.

For the 3 months that I’ve been here so far, I’ve not encountered any harassment except for staring. Maybe some men have made remarks as I’ve walked by but because of my lack of arabic, I can’t understand them. And honestly, more women stare at me than men. Seriously, I’ve found that women stare the longest and the most openly. So are the women harassing me? I try to smile to break the ice but they just keep staring. It rather pisses me off to be honest. Yes, maybe I’m the first blondie you’ve seen before but doesn’t most people know that staring is rude? Now I know that harassment exists in Egypt but it exists in all countries including the good ole US of A and its military, lets not forget that. Let’s not single out one country and lets look at the problem as a whole world versus one country.

Which brings me to my next point….clothing. I did a lot of research on what to wear before I came to Egypt. I knew that it was a very conservative country and to dress modestly. Things that I packed:

• Maxi skirts (skirts or dresses below the knees) 

• Jeans

• Sweatpants and sweatshirts (for the cool nights)

• Couple of t-shirts

• Tons of long sleeve shirts

• Scarves (for covering any cleavage and also for covering your head if you are going into any religious buildings)

• Any kind of shoes you would like to wear but I would suggest comfort over fashion.

I try to make sure all the fabrics are cotton or some other natural fiber. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you but it’s HOT in Egypt. I was there in the summer and the winter. The summer is unbearably hot but still necessary to be covered if you are going to be outside of the resorts. The winter is amazing, warm comfortable days and cool nights. Respect their culture and you can avoid some stares and harassment. You come showing all of your ‘goodies’, you can plan on people giving you a hard time.