The role of online and social media in combating sexual harassment in Egypt

Author: Mariam Saleh

Vol Master of Arts, American University , Cairo, 2018, pp. 153

In Egypt, research shows that a large number of women have been harassed at least once in their lifetime. The Egyptian Government, international organizations and non-governmental organizations have been working for several years to combat sexual harassment. With the widespread use of online and social media in Egypt, thse have become an effective and easily accessible means of conveying combating sexual harassment. The study is based on the Social Ecological Model, and seeks to identify how online and social media could be used to combat harassment through social change, social mobilization, and advocacy. The study is based on a case study of HarassMap – an Egyptian NGO working on combating sexual harassment through online and social media. Findings of the study show that online and social media could be used following a social change and social mobilization approach to: (1) encourage sexual harassment survivors to respond to harassment through changing beliefs, increasing self-efficacy, and changing behavior through social prompting; (2) encourage bystander intervention through changing beliefs, increasing bystander-efficacy, and changing behavior through social prompting; (3) change society’s attitudes and beliefs when assigning responsibility and attribution of sexual harassment and increase the society’s collective-efficacy to fight acceptability of harassment; (4) argue for organizational change to have sexual harassment-free workplaces/educational institutions through targeting the organization and its surrounding environment; and (5) campaign for more stringent sexual harassment law/law enforcement.