WUNRN
Egyptian Center for Women's Rights Submits a
Proposed Bill on Sexual Harassment
By Diaa Mohamed |
Cairo, 7 April 2014 - With the problem of sexual harassment
worsening in Egypt, ECWR, with the help of a group of legal experts, has
proposed a draft law with an explanatory memorandum on sexual harassment in
order to stamp out this problem. This proposed bill from ECWR to Egypt’s
President, Chief Justice Adly Mansour, comes to assist Egypt pass legislation
to address this problem.
The bill draws on an ideology of punishment according to which penalties act as
a deterrent when applied effectively and not necessarily when they are severe.
ECWR therefore suggests using the ancillary penalties found in Egypt’s Penal
Code (at Article 25), in addition to measures expressed in Article 19-bis. Article
17, which refers to the discretionary powers of the presiding judge in
determining the means and tools of sanction, can also be employed. The proposed
revised text can be incorporated into Article 278 on the penalties for acts of
public indecency and Article 279 on the penalties for indecent acts in general,
whether in public or private, so that all instances of sexual harassment are
covered and punishment can be scaled accordingly.
ECWR believes Egyptian society needs its lawmakers to update existing legal
provisions to include the crime of sexual harassment whilst a review of the
other provisions is carried out with definitions narrowed and penalties scaled
according to the severity of the crime. The language used to define individual
crimes needs to be more precise and specific provisions warranted by the
circumstances surrounding the crime, whether extenuating or aggravating, need
to be drafted. The options available to the presiding judge need to be extended
by employing the principal, supplementary and ancillary penalties such as
community service and other civil penalties with the addition of a number of
preventative measures prescribed by law.
It should be noted that our proposed draft bill was submitted previously to
former President Mubarak, to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and to
former President Morsi but each time was met with silence. This has led to an
intolerable epidemic of sexual harassment in Egyptian society which has started
to pose a risk not just to women but to every member of every Egyptian family
with no laws deterring harassers in place or enforced and the streets unsafe
for everyone.
Draft Law Submitted by the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights
With an Explanatory Memorandum
Law criminalizing sexual harassment.
Law No. 2008 – amending the Penal Code promulgated by Law No. 58 of 1937
In the name of the people
The President of Egypt
The People’s Assembly decided on the provisions of the following law. We
propose the following amendments:
1. Replace the phrase, ‘indecent assault and corrupting the morals’ with the
phrase, ‘indecent assault, sexual harassment and corrupting the morals’ in the
title of Part IV of Book 3 of the Penal Code.
2. The following text should be added to Article 278 of the Penal Code:
Article 278-bis: Anyone who has sexually harassed another person, whether male
or female, against their will, shall be punished by both imprisonment for a
period not exceeding 1 year and fined no more than 2000 Egyptian pounds, or
either penalty. Harassment is defined as inappropriate touching, stalking,
following or other forms of pursuit, sexual comments or obscene/offensive
remarks made either explicitly or implicitly, over the telephone, online or by
text message, picture message or messages containing images of a sexual nature.
• If the harassment is perpetrated by someone with power over
the person harassed or by someone who is exploiting the harassed person’s terms
of employment or by someone who is a family member, close or distant, or by
someone with responsibility for the harassed person’s upbringing or care, the
penalty shall be 2 years imprisonment and a fine of 2000 Egyptian pounds.
• If the harassment is perpetrated by more than one person or a visible weapon
or the threat of a weapon is used during the harassment or the harassment has
resulted in damage or injury, the penalty shall be imprisonment for 3 years and
a fine of no more than 5000 Egyptian pounds.
• If the harassment is perpetrated against a minor or physically or mentally
disabled person or against someone suffering from a psychological or mental
illness, the penalty shall be imprisonment for no less than 1 year and no more
than 3 years.
• It is for the judge to sanction any other measures he/she sees fit and to set
out the regulations relating to implementation of this law.
Explanatory Memorandum on the draft provisions relating to the
crime of sexual harassment
Sexual harassment against women has recently become a noticeable fact of life
in Egypt. Sexual harassment is a form of violence against women. In our modern
day life the number of women suffering sexual harassment is on the rise whether
they are at work or studying or just walking down the street, whether they are
young girls or married women. This an invasion of a woman’s privacy, an act of
trespass against her will which is an attack on her personal freedom and an
insulting and humiliating assault on her psychological and physical wellbeing.
(draft by Professor Mohammed Khalil Quetta, member of the People’s Assembly).
The majority of women who suffer sexual harassment suffer psychological
problems such as anxiety, sleeplessness, apathy, fear and nightmares (from a
draft by the National Council for Women).
Women do not report sexual harassment since proving it is difficult and the law
does not lay down penalties specific to this type of crime. This leads to an
increase in sexual harassment incidents in the absence of a deterrent in law.
This whole issue therefore requires updated, clear legislation pertaining to
this crime which sets out clear penalties for this particular illegal act.
Round table discussions on ‘the absence of legal deterrence and its impact on
Egyptian society’ recommended society and all its institutions take the
initiative and push for legislation to be updated since the provisions of the
Penal Code relating to criminal behaviour do not cover sexual harassment.
However, existing penalties were felt inadequate for the crime of sexual
harassment.
Egyptian society needs its lawmakers to update existing legal provisions to
include the crime of sexual harassment whilst a review of the other provisions
is carried out with definitions narrowed and penalties scaled according to the
severity of the crime. The language used to define individual crimes needs to
be more precise and specific provisions warranted by the circumstances
surrounding the crime, whether extenuating or aggravating, need to be drafted.
The options available to the presiding judge need to be extended by employing
the principal, supplementary and ancillary penalties with the addition of a
number of preventative measures prescribed by law.
As a rule, legal provisions must be applicable to everyone without exception
and prescribe a punishment or penalty. Our findings confirm that sexual
harassment may happen to women, children and even men in various ways. It is
therefore vitally important to draft provisions that fully cover this crime to
act as a deterrent both socially and on a personal level, provisions that cover
all forms of sexual harassment, its perpetrators and victims, no matter who
they are.
We believe the circumstances surrounding the crime of sexual harassment to be
aggravating in the following instances:
1. The crime has been perpetrated by a member of the victim’s family or the
person/s responsible for the victim’s upbringing or care.
2. The crime has been perpetrated by someone with power over the victim (e.g.
an employer/boss or civil servant (public official) as defined in Article
119-bis).
3. Anyone who abuses the power conferred on him by virtue of his position at
work or in the community.
4. If there is more than one perpetrator whether of their own volition or
acting on the orders of others (police, prisons).
5. The perpetrator uses a weapon or threatens the use of a weapon.
6. Whoever exploits the terms of employment of the harassed or the customer
care relations in shops or the duty of care obligation in an educational or
training establishment.
7. If the crime is committed at night.
Instances of sexual harassment that require harsher penalties and have a
bearing on the victim.
1. If the harassment is committed against a minor or a female.
2. If the crime is committed against a vulnerable person or someone who is
incapacitated or has a physical or mental impairment. It is important to
establish whether the harassment should be classed as a misdemeanour or felony.
The ancillary penalties laid down in the Penal Code (Article 25) can also be
employed as well as the measures set out in Article 19-bis. Article 17 which
refers to the discretionary powers of the presiding judge in determining the
means and tools of sanction can also be employed. The proposed revised
provisions can be incorporated into Article 278 on the penalties for acts of
public indecency and Article 279 on the penalties for indecent acts in general,
whether in public or private, so that all instances of sexual harassment are
covered and punishment can be scaled accordingly.
It is important that criminal action against sexual harassment starts by filing
a complaint. We suggest the following provisions:
Anyone who has sexually harassed another person, whether male or female,
against their will, shall be punished by both imprisonment for no longer than 1
year and fined no more than 2000 Egyptian pounds, or either penalty. Harassment
is defined as inappropriate touching, stalking, following or other forms of
pursuit, sexual comments or obscene/offensive remarks made either explicitly or
implicitly, over the telephone, online or by text message, picture message or
messages containing images of a sexual nature.
• If the harassment is perpetrated by someone with power over the person
harassed or by someone who is exploiting the harassed person’s terms of
employment or by someone who is a family member, close or distant, or by
someone with responsibility for the harassed person’s upbringing or care, the
penalty shall be 2 years imprisonment and a fine not exceeding 2000 Egyptian
pounds, or either penalty.
• If the harassment is perpetrated by more than one person, or at night, or a
weapon or the threat of a weapon is used, or the harassment results in damage
or injury, the penalty shall be 3 years imprisonment and a fine of no more than
5000 Egyptian pounds, or either penalty.
• If the harassment is perpetrated against a minor or physically or mentally
disabled person or against someone suffering from a psychological or mental
illness, the penalty shall be imprisonment for no less than 1 year and no more
than 3 years.
• It is for the judge to sanction any other measures he/she sees fit and to set
out the regulations relating to implementation of this law and any measures
sanctioned by the presiding judge.
Harsher penalties should be prescribed in the following
instances:
The explanatory memorandum recounts the instances relating to
either the perpetrator or victim when punishment should be made more severe,
the ancillary penalties doubled and preventative measures employed, including
community service penalties in any public facility or public service
organisation for maximum and minimum terms. For instances involving public
officials, there are many preventative measures that can be used as guidance.