Where there is a gathering in Egypt, there is a possibility of sexual aggression against women. Holiday seasons, in particular, have become so tainted by sexual assaults that a number of political parties, anti-harassment initiatives and women’s organizations launched ‘The Holiday Season Is Round the Corner’ campaign to bring awareness to the troubling phenomenon of celebrations being coupled with gang rape.

Where there is a gathering in Egypt, there is a possibility of sexual aggression against women. Holiday seasons, in particular, have become so tainted by sexual assaults that a number of political parties, anti-harassment initiatives and women’s organizations launched ‘The Holiday Season Is Round the Corner’ campaign to bring awareness to the troubling phenomenon of celebrations being coupled with gang rape.

News about group sexual violence has been circulating across Egypt for years, starting with the anti-Mubarak demonstrations in 2005 or those which took place in 2006 during the Eid al-Fitr holiday and the gang rape incidents that occurred during different stages of the Egyptian revolution since January 2011. Large musical concerts are also the setting for gang rapes. The assault violations were even more evident during the presidential inauguration ceremony in June 2014.

The savagery of the acts shocked many and there was even wild speculation that rapists were hired by the remnants of Mubarak’s regime to subvert the revolution or by the Muslim Brotherhood, to thwart the third wave of revolution. There were even rumours that these incidents did not occur at all and were merely created to promote certain political or financial interests. But the sad reality is that gang rapes happen everywhere, not only at political events.

My negative experiences led me to watch a movie called ‘The Danish Experience’ (produced in 2003) for the first time during Eid al-Fitr holiday on one of the satellite channels. The film follows a beautiful Danish girl on a visit to Egypt to conduct research about the sexual life of Egyptians. She is the guest of the Minister of Youth and his children. The movie is full of negative depictions about the Danish character, especially during one scene when Adel Imam slaps her in the face and she becomes pleased with him, respects him and even admires his masculinity.

The most stunning scene, however, is the European girl’s arrival at the airport and her trip to the host’s residence. Immediately after she gets out of the airport, a number of men gather around her and walk behind her for several kilometers down the road . The crowd grows larger when she reaches the minister’s house. It is like a huge demonstration that draws in all the men she walks past, all of whom have expressions of sexual excitement on their faces. The dignified minister appears to be shocked at the scene and turns to one of his men and rebukes him saying: “Even you!”

“It is not only me, Sir,” the employee replies.

The same spectacle is repeated when the Danish character goes to the university library and when she lies down in the garden to enjoy the sunshine. Tens of excited men swarm around her, but they do not move or become violent . After all, this is a comedy in which no blood or injury is to be expected.

Still, even in this amusing movie, we understand very well that the security she is enjoying amid these potential rapists is due to the protection she has been given by the authority of the minister and his entourage, who may at any time decide to let them assault her and who are themselves potential rapists.

In real life and in the city streets and squares where real women, who are not protected by the hospitality of the minister and his guards, walk down the streets, every passerby may one way or another use his hand or any of his organs or tools to snatch a piece of her. Others do it with a glance at a passing girl’s breast, not knowing that a hundred other men will also be looking at her. It is enough to drive her crazy.

This is what we call collective sexual harassment. It is a bloody and gruesome scene. The scene, however, is presented in the ‘Danish Experience’ movie in a way that provokes laughter and makes us  tolerate this collective violation. We only see one aspect of the ‘it’s not only me’ spectacle, ignoring the psychological and physical impacts caused to the woman by her collective assaulters.

I watched this movie with relatives and my adolescent son who sometimes laughed but seemed uncomfortable about certain scenes asked me: “Mom, why did not they feel embarrassed by this movie yet they were angry about ‘Halawet Rooh’?” ‘Halawet Rooh’ (Beauty of the Soul) is a movie that was produced this year and caused an outcry after being cancelled due to some sexually exciting scenes within the film.