I am not a cat!

Almost every day while walking through the streets of Cairo I wonder where does sexual harassment actually start?

Are the thousands of 'Welcomes!' I heard in almost 3 years sexual harassment? Or does it start with 'ya beda', 'ya mo3sa', 'ya asl', 'ya habiby', 'nice', 'ya sexy', 'you look like my wife', 'I wanna marry you!' or 'Can I have a picture with you?'. What about 'cat-calling' and starring?

Or does it only start with grabbing, masturbating in front of me or ringing my doorbell and asking for sex.

For me all those 'Welcomes!' are already annoying. I feel objectified starting from cat-calling. Ana mush 'otta! And everything else is even worse.

I remember one incident quite well:

It happened a longer time ago in Zamalek in a coffee beside the Nile. I was sitting with a female friend outside, we were talking and in front there were some cars parking. Suddenly she asked if the guy in the car in the second row was masturbating. I could only see the open door from my place but she could look inside. She jumped out of her chair and went to him asking, if he is not ashamed. He only asked 'What?' with his **** in his hands and smiled. I was totally paralysed, but she really freaked out and she was right. She insulted him in every language she knows and finally he drove away.

We wondered what the hell this guy was thinking doing that in the middle of the day in front of a crowded coffee. But nobody of the other guest seemed to realize what was happen or maybe they just didn't care.

What are these guys thinking to behave like that in public or the work place? To treat women like sex objects?

And it's always blamed on the women themselves, maybe you weren't dressed decently, maybe you gave him a strange look, or worse maybe you dared to smile, which is obviously an invitation to masturbate in front of you.

Another explanation is men are frustrated, they have no jobs, no change to marry, so they feel bored. So, these 'poor' guys choose to harass women in the street to kill the time. Natch! Of course, what else they should do? And the sad point is: they have the POWER to do it AND they getting away with it!

It gets worse when it comes to solutions:

Dress decent!

Don't look men in the eyes!

Be unfriendly! Don't smile!

Ignore it!

Don't walk alone in the streets!

We need more police men (sic!) to protect women!

...

I am a human being, I am a person, I am self confident, I have a university degree, I am working, I am politically active, I am independent, I can survive on my own, I live by myself.

AND I want to walk as I want, I want to be friendly as I want, I want to smile as I want, I want to walk alone as I want.

And I don't want to be protected. 

I want RESPECT.