Sexual rights and the internet in Egypt

“Sexuality is about health, pleasure, bodies, violence, rights, identity and empowerment ... about families, domestic space, intimate relations and public engagements …”

Definitions of sexuality often engage with numerous variables, differences and layers that make up our understanding of the term. The questions that prompted my research are: How do Egyptian women and men learn about sexuality? And how does internet technology serve this thirst for knowledge? Could the internet otherwise be a source of widespread sexual violence?

To explore the level of sexual awareness among Egyptian youth, I find the study conducted by the Population Reference Bureau (a New York-based nonprofit) in 2011 with public secondary students very insightful. For instance, the study finds that the interviewed teenage boys had no knowledge of puberty before its onset. Most female students from urban backgrounds referred to their mothers as the main source of information on sexual and reproductive rights. While girls in Upper Egypt depended on books, their peers and teachers for information, male students in Upper Egypt depended highly on the internet and their peers.

Additionally, young girls wanted information that goes beyond reproductive issues. They wanted to know about their bodies and sexuality, which was information they did not know how or where to find. We could conclude from this that mainstream online content seems to have a bigger impact on young men than young women. Secondly, it is obvious that young women, regardless of their sociocultural background, have a need for knowledge and information that is not readily available to them.

Moreover, it has become evident that mainstream pornographic content is taking its toll on both the old and the young, both men and women, worldwide. Self-education about sexuality and sexual pleasure is a direct result of available mainstream material, dictating both pleasure and gender roles. If we look closer at the case of Egyptian women, we find that even the most educated and fortunate among them struggle to find sources of knowledge on sexual pleasure and healthy sexual relationships.

On many levels, the available violent pornographic content mirrors an incomplete, gender-blind version of sexual pleasure, and affects both men and women’s understanding of sexual relationships, distorting perceptions of healthy and intimate partnerships. Domestic violence and intimate partner violence are thus a direct consequence of sexuality framed as a taboo that encompasses unrealistic expectations amid an absence of healthy educational platforms and an imposing, rigid cultural heritage.

The notions of sexual confidence and pleasurable acts are crucial and interlinked. Mainstream pornographic content often portrays women as subjects inferior to male partners, objectified to achieve male pleasure that they then internalize as theirs. Who defines these pleasurable acts? Who speaks to women about their own needs and their own pleasure? Although this topic is not new to progressive feminist discourse and advanced interpretations of sexual pleasure, it remains a taboo in Egypt. It is often the case that men Google pleasurable sexual acts and impose what they find online on their female partners, who more often than not find sexual engagement violent and in contradiction with their romanticized image of intimacy.

Only in the past few years, independent movements in Egypt such as Ma3looma emerged as important platforms for alternative sexual education in Arabic for youth. According to its first annual report in 2013, an article Ma3looma published entitled “10 benefits of the female sexual orgasm” was listed as the third most read, with a total of 34,828 views. Ma3looma works under the auspices of the OneWorldMobile4Good global initiative, whose aim is to “innovate internet and mobile phone applications that the world's poorest people can use to improve their life.” When it came to their SMS service, aggregators indicated that menstruation, followed by inter-marital sexual relationships, were the top-ranking topics, while female virginity came last. Both results are a clear indication of what topics really matter to young men and women in Egypt when it comes to the topic of sexuality.

Women’s rights groups in Egypt have utilized the internet to combat sexual violence. Considering its cost-effectiveness, high outreach, interactivity and anonymity, several internet-based knowledge platforms responded to the lack of official structured services and tools available for women to stand against sexual violence.

HarassMap is a leading example. Their pioneering website maps out sexual harassment cases across Egypt, providing data and linking survivors to support services. Another important example is the volunteer-led movement Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment (OpAntiSH), formed in November 2012 to combat mob sexual assault and rape in Tahrir Square. Through their Facebook page, this self-organized group mobilized volunteers, documented cases of mob rape and sexual assault and issued press statements. Their findings are considered to be among the most credible and unique documentation available on these types of mob attacks in Egypt, offering a serious data set for research and investigative reporting. Sadly, however, their important efforts were not sustained for reasons that have to do with their volunteer-based structure, and because their momentum was directly linked to intervention missions to rescue and support women from mob rape or sexual assault in the Tahrir Square area almost exclusively.

Less-organized actions to use information and communications technology, specifically YouTube, to combat sexual violence in Egypt are paying off, as well. In March 2014, a YouTube video appeared of a female student at Cairo University who was sexually assaulted by male colleagues. Not only did the video go viral on social media platforms, the Cairo University dean’s fragile statement blaming the female student was publicly bashed online. Social media platforms are time and again the scene of a public debate on contentious violations, this time forcing the dean to issue another statement apologizing and condemning sexual harassment against the student.

In a world driven by technology in every respect, using it to secure the sexual rights of women is something to be expected. This does not, however, negate the role of the state in protecting its citizens against sexual crimes. Decision-makers urgently need to provide safe, accessible and sensitive alternative platforms for sexual education for men and women in Egypt. This could be done through using SMS reporting, online counseling and safe knowledge portals.

Similarly, the fundamental role played by civil society organizations and human rights centers against violence should be supported and protected. Al-Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence have played a significant role since 1993 in providing counseling, legal and medical aid as well as psychological support to survivors of sexual violence and abuse. The recent decision to close down the center is not only another example of the state’s crackdown on civil society organizations, but also raises alarming questions of who should fill the gap, and what will be the alternative safe spaces for rehabilitation, protection and prevention of widespread forms of abuse and violence?

Although technology has negatively contributed to the image of women “objectified” as sexual items, whether through publicity material, stereotyped gender roles or violent masculine pornographic content, it has also been adapted gradually and successfully to serve as a tool for information, support, protection and reporting against sexual violence in Egypt. However, these volunteer efforts are not enough to provide a comprehensive understanding of sexual violence against women, nor do they offer sustainable protection for survivors.

Women in Egypt hold a non-negotiable right to reclaim their bodies, engage in healthy consensual relations and access services for protection when needed to fight sexual violence and unwanted sexual actions. Until this topic emerges on the surface, countless cases of domestic abuse and violent sexual assaults will continue to exist. Millions of young men and women will engage in violent sexual relations amid societal silence.