Egypt orders inquiry into festival sex attacks

Egypt’s president has acknowledged the widespread problem of sexual harassment in his country, ordering an investigation into a rash of assaults during the recent Muslim festival.

Mohammed Morsi acted yesterday after 735 police complaints about sexual harassment over the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, which ended on Monday. Mr Morsi stressed the need to fight “all phenomena of moral chaos and abuses, especially harassment in Egyptian streets,” a spokesman said.

The holiday features celebrations, crowded public squares – and widespread harassment of women by men.

Rights activists have faulted Mr Morsi’s Islamist government for failing to take action against the wave of sexual assaults. His order appeared to be an attempt to counter that charge. Complaints about the problem, which has long been a feature of Egyptian society, gained prominence during last year’s popular uprising that unseated president Hosni Mubarak. Women activists and reporters told of severe assaults by men in Tahrir Square, the focus of the mass protests.

Dr Hani Henry, a psychology professor at the American University in Cairo, said the widespread notion that women should dress more conservatively to reduce sexual harassment is one of the biggest impediments to addressing the issue.

“There’s a ‘blaming the victim’ mentality,” he said, adding that addressing sexual harassment could be more difficult now that Islamists have emerged as the strongest political power in post-revolutionary Egypt.