Cairo: Egyptian Parliament on Monday approved a louder punishment for sexual harassment and related crime and increased it into a violation of crime, aiming to curb attacks related to a nation that felt unlucky.
Sex crimes have increased conversation topics in recent years in conservative countries, Muslim majority, with several famous court cases that come to various conclusions.
Dozens of the Egyptians began posting a sexual attack account on social media last year, but the campaigners said there were still biases who were rooted in Egypt to put more mistakes in women for behavior that was considered provocative rather than in men for sex crimes.
The public prosecutor in May wrapped a case on charges of a woman that she was raped in a luxury hotel in Cairo in 2014 because of “inadequate evidence” against the defendants.
Referring to the previous law passed in 2014, a parliamentary committee said in a report on Monday that “even though the punishment registered was a quantum leap at that time, they did not achieve the necessary prevention.” In the size approved on Monday, punishment for sexual harassment increased from a minimum of one year in prison to a minimum of five years, or a sentence of up to 300,000 pounds of Egypt ($ 19,100), up from 20,000 pounds.
In situations where power imbalances are in place because of professional or family relations, or in cases involving weapons use or legs, penalty increases from a minimum of two to a minimum of seven years, in addition to the 10-folding increase of a maximum fine to 500,000 pounds of Egypt.
Punishment for general abnouration and general harassment also increased substantially.
In August, Parliament approved laws that protected the identity of victims of sexual harassment and attacks, after the social media campaign caused the arrest of a suspected sex violator.
Egypt tightens punishment for sexual harassment
