Parliamentarians call for harsher sexual harassment sentences

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Sat, 01 Apr 2017 - 08:48 GMT

BY

Sat, 01 Apr 2017 - 08:48 GMT

'La lel taharosh' No for sexual harassment - Photo courtesy of Doaa el-Adl

'La lel taharosh' No for sexual harassment - Photo courtesy of Doaa el-Adl

CAIRO – 1 April 2017: Members of the Egyptian parliament are calling for the implementation of more severe sexual harassment penalties following an incident of collective assault on a 19-year-old girl in Sharqia Governorate,

Youm7 reported

.

Parliamentarian Shereen Farag, a member of the social solidarity committee, called for implementing the death penalty or a life sentence for the mob that committed the act.

“The committee will fight the phenomenon of sexual harassment through deterrent legislation,” Farag told Youm7.

At least six men were arrested Thursday for collective assault of a college girl in Zagazig, the capital city of Sharqia. Police were alerted after dozens of men surrounded the girl and started to verbally harass her and touch her, forcing her to hide inside a café.

Sharqia MP Alaa Abdel Nabi also denounced the incident and called for strict action by the parliament to confront this kind of “full-fledged crime,”

Youm7 reported

.

According to the

sexual harassment law

in the Egyptian Constitution, verbal, behavioral, phone and online sexual harassment are punishable by a prison sentence of 6 months to 5 years and a fine up to EGP 50,000.

A 2013 study

by the United Nations revealed that 99.4 of Egyptian women have experienced sexual harassment.

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