We know that sexual assault is one of the most potent weapons of misogyny; the time tested way to “keep women in their place”. This is in keeping with the regressive perception that women are attacked because they leave their houses, wear certain clothes; in other words the habit of blaming and shaming the victim rather than the attacker. In recent times, there has been a rash of incidents of public molestation of women by groups of men in a mob; a brutal and utterly horrifying phenomenon that is being referred to as Taharrush.
What is Taharrush?
Taharrush is an Egyptian word that means collective harassment; the term Taharrush Jinsi refers to sexual harassment. The term Taharrush has come to mean a particularly terrifying form of sexual violence against women where a group of men surround a woman, separating her from her companions and proceed to sexually harass her by groping, beating, stripping, penetrating and actually raping her in public. The woman is also robbed at times. This form of mass sexual assault is further complicated by the fact that some of the attackers pretend to be helping the woman and actively prevent real rescuers from penetrating the ring of assaulters.
When Taharrush first came to light
It was in 2005 that Taharrush was first reported when women protestors in Egypt were attacked in this manner. It was also thought that this was a ploy by the authorities to curb the protests at Tahrir Square in Cairo; a covert weapon against female protesters but it was the Lara Logan incident that shed light on what was essentially a depraved male mindset.
One of the most well known and gruesome instances of Taharrush was reported in February 2011 when American reporter Lara Logan was attacked by hundreds of men while reporting from Tahrir Square. She was in that circle of hell for about half an hour, being groped, her body and hair brutally pulled in different directions. The men raped her with their hands while taking photos, she said. The attacked ended when a camp of women and a group of soldiers came to her rescue after which she was taken to hospital where she remained for four days.
Taharrush has now reached European shores
Other instances of women being subjected to such group sexual brutality have been reported over the years and the issue once again came into sharp focus with the New Year incidents in Germany. In Cologne and other German cities, women were attacked and robbed by male attackers. 516 complaints were made during the time. Out of these as many as 237, were of a sexual nature. Women were groped, pinched and grabbed with attackers putting their hands inside their clothes. Many had their wallets and phones stolen.
Some instances seem to be a new type of organized criminality; others appear to be born out of a deep seated hatred for women as autonomous beings and appear to be a way to punish while asserting a continuing male dominance. In India, a country where there is scant regard for women’s rights; where women’s safety is constantly under threat; is this just another possible, utterly horrifying means of subjugation that we have to guard against?
Author – Reena Daruwalla
