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Indian police charge lawmaker with sexual harassment in case brought by female wrestlers

Indian police charge lawmaker with sexual harassment in case brought by female wrestlers

INDIAN police filed charges of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation against the chief of the country's wrestling federation, a powerful member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), following complaints made by female wrestlers. Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastav read out the charges at a court hearing in the capital New Delhi. A police source said last week more than 155 people have been questioned in the investigations against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a member of parliament from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party. The investigations followed months of complaints by the country's top wrestlers, including several Olympic and Asian Games medallists.…
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Sexual harassment is rife in many African media workplaces

Sexual harassment is rife in many African media workplaces

SURVIVORS of sexual violence around the world have begun to speak out more in recent years. This has happened partly due to the #MeToo movement, which began in 2006 in the US and gained momentum through high-profile cases like Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein and actor Bill Cosby. LINDSEY BLUMELL, Lecturer in Journalism, City, University of London DINFIN MULUPI, PhD Student, University of Maryland On the African continent, several countries have seen the movement gain ground. In Kenya, there was the #mydressmychoice campaign while in Nigeria the #ArewaMeToo campaign mobilised survivors and activists. In South Africa, women have used several campaigns…
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Egypt toughens sexual harassment law

Egypt toughens sexual harassment law

MENNA A FAROUK EGYPTIAN women's rights activists have called for laws protecting women to be better enforced after the introduction of stronger penalties for sexual harassment offences. They welcomed a move by Egypt's parliament on Sunday to reclassify sexual harassment as a felony, increase the minimum jail sentence from one to two years and raise the fine to at least 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($6,400). But they warned this would only be effective if enforcement of such laws was improved, citing a lack of awareness among police, judges and society as a whole. The legal amendments are the latest in a…
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Egypt student jailed for 3 yrs for online sexual harassment

Egypt student jailed for 3 yrs for online sexual harassment

MENNA A FAROUK A former Cairo student was jailed for three years on Tuesday for using social media to sexually harass women and will face charges of sexual assault next month in a case that triggered a #MeToo moment in the country. Ahmed Bassam Zaki, formerly at the American University in Cairo, will face the court again on Jan. 9 on charges of indecent assault and blackmail investigated after scores of women joined an Instagram campaign to accuse him of sex crimes. The case has attracted widespread attention from media, religious figures and women's groups in a country where rights…
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Could Egypt’s #MeToo movement be the tinder for a ‘feminist revolution’?

Could Egypt’s #MeToo movement be the tinder for a ‘feminist revolution’?

MENNA A FAROUK IN just two months, Egypt's burgeoning #MeToo movement has exposed sexual assaults, spurred legal reform and emboldened hundreds of abuse victims including celebrities to speak out, sparking a long-overdue debate about gender inequality. Now, rights activists in the conservative country say keeping the social media campaign's momentum going hinges on taking the message offline to reach poorer women, especially in rural areas, and changing attitudes in the justice system. "I hope this momentum does not remain in the upper- and middle-class segments of society but moves downwards to the lower social classes as well," said Entessar El-Saeed,…
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Egypt detains suspect in high-profile rape case

Egypt detains suspect in high-profile rape case

EGYPTIAN public prosecutors ordered the detention of a man suspected of being involved in an alleged gang rape at a luxury Cairo hotel in 2014 for four days pending investigation, they have announced in a statement. The man, who is also a suspect in other similar cases, was arrested by police on Wednesday as he tried to flee abroad like seven other suspects in the case, which has been the focus of an online campaign against sexual assault in Egypt, they said. The seven suspects fled the country between July 27 and July 29 after claims against them started to…
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