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The Spectacle Blog
This is just awful.
During the euphoria that followed the news of Hosni Mubarak’s resignation last Friday, a bunch of thugs masquerading as protesters savagely beat and sexually assaulted 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan.
Logan was saved by a group of female protesters and Egyptian soldiers. Unfortunately, the damage was done. Logan has returned to the United States and as of this writing remains hospitalized. I wish her a speedy recovery.
Now I realize that most Egyptian protesters behaved in a peaceful manner but this simply cannot stand. The people who attacked Logan must be brought to justice and punished severely. If this fails to happen it will be a stain on the Egyptian protests.
View all comments (48) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/02/15/logan-sexually-assaulted-by-eg
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sean| 2.15.11 @ 9:53PM
This is why I avoid going to third world countries.
bluecollarbytes| 2.15.11 @ 10:20PM
or New York city
Alan Brooks| 2.15.11 @ 10:20PM
...such as our neighbor, Mexico?
sean| 2.15.11 @ 10:26PM
Exactly, people always seem surprised that other countries have little regard for their own people much less foreigners.
MikeBee| 2.16.11 @ 10:31AM
Alan, Talk with anyone who lives in a border city, like Laredo, TX, or San Diego, CA. They will tell you to stay out of Mexico, if you wish not to be assaulted in some manner.
Alan Brooks| 2.15.11 @ 10:26PM
"or New York city"
NYC, good point-- as many women get assaulted in NYC as in Cairo. Now we are getting somewhere.
ggoblue| 2.16.11 @ 2:31AM
NYC=democrats by the millions
Patriot| 2.16.11 @ 4:01AM
Stop the equivalency, Alan. You're full of BS as usual.
Alan Brooks| 2.16.11 @ 8:39AM
Sooo, you are in some way defending crime in Democratic NYC? verrry interesting. next you will be defending immigration policies in sanctuary cities; oh, dear: politics makes such STRANGE bedfellows.
Patriot| 2.16.11 @ 1:08PM
Why do you defend the brutal rape and beating of a defenseless woman by violent Eqyptian thugs?
Why, Alan?
Occam's Tool| 2.16.11 @ 12:37PM
Really? Where are the comparative numbers.
Occam's Tool| 2.16.11 @ 12:50PM
An interesting article from Women's News, not a known right wing center:
60 percent of women harassed on daily basis – Cairo
Protective laws unfit for women on streets of Cairo
- WNN correspondents JOSEPH MAYTON and MANAR AMMAR
Cairo woman 1943. Image: Jeannie Fletcher
CAIRO: Being an Egyptian woman is to accept sexual harassment as daily routine, according to a recent report from the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR). The study outlines, 60 percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women are harassed on a daily basis.
This is not a new problem. In fact, the problem has been simmering silently since the fall of 2006, when dozens of men and boys attacked and assaulted women outside a downtown a Cairo cinema. In a mob style attack, the perpetrators attempted to grope and tear at any passing woman’s clothes in the October attack.
Street harassment globally includes a wide range of verbal and nonverbal acts, including whistles, jeers, winks, grabs, pinches, public displays and often the use of foul and offensive language. Extreme cases can accelerate into physical attacks where clothing is ripped and a woman is bruised, cut or injured.
No woman is left unharmed by acts of street harassment. Exposure to such acts of public humiliation that result in verbal or physical assault are often ignored by the police. In Cairo this is due to the lack of protective enforcement of Egyptian laws.
Although articles 268 and 306 of the Egyptian Penal Code touch on issues rising out of extreme sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo, the specific legal wording to aid in protecting women exists nowhere in the code. This makes prosecution very difficult and extremely rare.
“There is no law criminalizing sexual harassment in Egypt,” says New York based and award-winning Washington Post columnist, Mona Eltahawy. A native of Egypt, international speaker on Arab and Muslim issues and former reporter for Reuters news in Cairo and Jerusalem, Eltahawy has been vigilant in her stand on human rights and women’s rights.
“Police often refuse to report women’s complaints,” added Eltahawy. “And when it is the police themselves who are harassing women, then clearly women’s safety is far from a priority in Egypt.”
The 1993 Harvard Law Review report, “Street Harassment and the Informal Ghettoization of Women,” by Cynthia Grant Bowman, Cornell Law School professor and Gender Studies professor from Northwestern University, outlines the need for specific criminal and civil laws to protect women in public. Street harassment globally has one insidious and common denominator, the use of words that include extreme sexual innuendo and profanity.
“Fighting words statutes seem to offer an appropriate remedy for many kinds of street harassment,” says Professor Bowman in her report. “They encompass personal, face-to-face insults that cannot possibly be described as political discourse; they apply to ‘threatening, profane or obscene revilings’; and they turn upon the reaction of the hearer rather than upon the intent of the speaker or harasser.”
Although the ACLU – American Civil Liberties Union has come out strongly in opposition defending the use of ‘fighting words’ as free speech under United States law code, it does lean in the favor in the prosecution of “acts of violence, harassment or intimidation and invasions of privacy.”
“The ACLU recognizes that the mere presence of speech as one element in an act of violence, harassment, intimidation or privacy invasion doesn’t immunize that act from punishment,” said the organization in a 1994 “Hate Speech on Campus” report.
On the streets of Cairo in 2006, eyewitnesses and citizen reporters’ pictures were clear proof that terror against women had taken place, despite denials by police and the Ministry of Interior. Some of the photos revealed police watching from a distance in amusement and indifference to the women’s predicament.
The event proved to be the breaking point for women, and some men, in removing their heads from the sand. It was the first time women had spoken out about the issue, taking to the streets in demonstrations against this enduring social problem.
“Not only do we not have the space and the freedom to do it (demonstrate) but also some of us women got harassed by police officers,” says Mona, a 25-year-old Egyptian girl who attended her first demonstration following the 2006 attacks.
“I went with my sister and her friends and I saw one of her friends screaming at a couple of soldiers for harassing her,” Mona added. “The irony was unbelievable.”
Women walk on the streets of the Han Al-halili district in Cairo. Image: Peter Snelling
_______________
Two years on from those horrific events in downtown Cairo, and despite the few instances of activism that brought false hope for change, women complain about the same issues, according to the ECWR study. The statistics reveal a difficult reality; 60 percent of women answered that they are harassed every day. This includes both verbal and physical abuse.
Making matters complicated, approximately 70 percent of the men surveyed admitted to participating in harassing women, not taking matters seriously and even blaming women.
Mohsen Reda, an Egyptian Member of Parliament, said women should be dressed more modestly as “a lot of our youth can’t afford marriage so it is only normal for some harassment to take place.”
Are women in Egypt not dressed appropriately? “That is funny,” began Dola, a 55-year-old mother of two young women when asked about modesty in Egypt’s busy streets. “Of course he is talking about another nation. If you walk down the street you will see the truth: women are modest. Sure, you may see a small percentage of young college girls who like to dress in fashion, but that is it,” she added.
“Women with headscarves are harassed all the time, too,” the mother argued.
“At 15, I was groped as I was performing the rites of the hajj pilgrimage at Mecca, the holiest site for Muslims. Every part of my body was covered except for my face and hands. I’d never been groped before and burst into tears, but I was too ashamed to explain to my family what had happened,” said journalist Mona Eltahawy in a July 27, 2008 article for the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.
Foreign women in Cairo, according to the ECWR study, have an even more difficult situation. 98 percent of foreigners are harassed, and in some reported instances, more violently than locals.
Asma, a 29-year-old masters student retells the story of an Italian friend. “She was walking in downtown in the afternoon wearing cotton sporty pants and a t-shirt when a man came from behind and set part of her bottom on fire with a lighter and sprinted off,” the Egyptian student says of her friend. The Italian woman had third degree burns and “a wish to not come back here (to Egypt) again.”
The ECWR warned that harassing foreign women would lead to the loss of millions of pounds. A number of foreigners said they would never return to Egypt. 14 percent of all foreign women said they would either never return to Egypt or tell their friends not to visit, which could put a damper on the country’s number one source of income: tourism.
Despite the report and documented harassment, little has been done to prevent the situation from worsening.
Nehad Abu Komsan, the chairwoman of the ECWR, is optimistic on the future. She believes more women are willing to speak out about their experiences.
“The problem is that women did not have the ability to talk,” she begins, “and they feel the shame and were afraid to talk, but now they are more free to talk and they know that they are not alone and this is not their fault.”
Komsan argues that this has helped Egyptian society understand what is going on and will help to solve this social issue. An important aspect of her work is helping to develop society as a whole, not only within the activist community.
“It is not important to be a woman figure or a women defender. Women are an essential part of society, so as long as they are active in different fields they will defend their rights and other people’s rights,” she adds.
She pointed to recently appointed Islamic notary, known as a ‘maazun’ in Arabic, Amal Soliman. The lawyer is the first female maazun in the Islamic world’s history, and the 32-year-old mother does not want to be seen as an activist despite the attention her new job has brought.
“Sure, this was expected, although I didn’t think it would take this long,” said Soliman, who holds a master’s degree in law from Zagazig University. The Ministry of Justice has yet to give her the green light to begin work after months of waiting.
Like many obstacles in Egypt, men are guarding the entrance to the male dominated field, but Soliman expects to begin work before the year’s end.
She also has numerous law and criminal justice diplomas, which gave her the credentials to beat out 10 male candidates for the vacancy in her hometown of Qanayit just north of Cairo.
Amal Soliman didn’t believe gender would be a factor in the position when she applied, although she has long since gotten over that shock.
“I never thought that my gender would be a big deal, at least not as big of a deal it has become,” she added.
____________________________________________
The streets of Cairo continue to be unsafe for women in spite of media exposure and activist attempts to draw attention to ongoing problems.
Carmen Gindi| 2.16.11 @ 2:50PM
Occam's tool: Thank you for this detailed report about the rampant sexual harrassment that has taken place in Cairo daily, especially since 2006. Every word of it is true. I personally observed this problem during my 6 years of living there.
However, what happened to Logan was not just harrassment. It was sexual assault. In Egypt, that is a capital crime, punishable by hanging. If police enforcement were half-way as efficient as it should be there would be fewer cases like Logan's - and there would certainly be a lot less harrassment.
One law, which existed under the old regime, prevented such social problems from being brought to the forefront, and that law criminalized any words or actions that hurt the image of Egypt abroad. This pernicious law was used as an excuse by all kinds of government officials to sweep under the carpet any reports of social problems, and, indeed, it even allowed some police officers to commit some of these crimes themselves, without being held accountable for any of it.
We Egyptians definitely need a revolution that directly targets male culture. We need more victims to come forward, and we need a sustained media campaign that addresses this problem. There has never been a concerted effort from media sources to target sexual harrassment. Of course, we need strict law enforcement, too. If all these intitiatives were in place, the estate of women in Egypt would slowly, but surely, improve.
NoLib| 2.16.11 @ 6:32PM
With all due respect, Carmen, I think Egypt needs a revolution that directly targets "Muslim" culture.
Robert Pinkerton| 2.16.11 @ 2:22PM
NYC is one of those jurisdictions most antipathetic to private ownership of handguns, in this country; and irs record of crimes against persons, reflects that fact. Because handguns are effectively outlawed in NYC, most of the people there who have them are outlaws.
The privately-owned handgun is the lawful person's first line of defense against interpersonal criminal aggression.
ChristianLoveIsBest| 2.15.11 @ 11:07PM
Christians follow the example of Jesus and treat women with respect and dignity. What example did the founder of Islam set?
Alan Brooks| 2.15.11 @ 11:30PM
No, Christians smarm, which is not synonymous with respect, women.
Patriot| 2.16.11 @ 3:59AM
You're the biggest sexist ass around, Alan. Your smarmy, patronizing posts about Sarah Palin make me want to throw up.
You suffer from the liberal malady of projection, fool.
Alan Brooks| 2.16.11 @ 8:35AM
That makes two of us. You are a Repuglican, aren't you? or a libertopian?
Patriot| 2.16.11 @ 1:10PM
Weak post even for you, libtard.
Carmen Gindi| 2.16.11 @ 1:06AM
As an Egyptian, I am ashamed and sorry that this barbaric deed happened to Ms. Logan while she was covering what was supposed to be a celebratory event for everyone. I wish her a quick recovery, and I wish the animals who committed this crime a swift and severe punishment.
Alan Brooks| 2.16.11 @ 8:43AM
How are they going to catch them, Carmen? let alone prosecute them. My cousin was raped in Morocco;
she reported it to a policeman- and he raped her, too.
George| 2.16.11 @ 12:43PM
Judging from your posts, I thought you would said the policeman was a Republican. Did she report the policeman to anyone?
Patriot| 2.16.11 @ 1:13PM
Alan would say that NYC cops do the same thing.
It's all about false equivalency with liberal freaks like him.
Karl Lucifer Marx| 2.16.11 @ 5:37AM
In other countries they don't know what affirmative action is or that it deserves respect.
On another note this same type of behavior can be found in almost every major city run by and ruined by liberals and liberalism.
Will| 2.16.11 @ 5:47AM
I was going to bring up the Puerto Rican Day Parade, but then decided, nah, why bother?
Wasn't Mosque Mike Bloomberg once the subject of some type of discrimination suit involving a woman?
beebop| 2.16.11 @ 5:56AM
Please also point out that while she was being attacked, Logan was repeatedly jeered at for being a Jew. So. I guess the Muslim Brotherhood is not a secular as the baboons in DC would have us think.
Also, CBS was not going to make this public until the AP (asshole press international) called for a comment. What does that say about "freedom of the press" and reporting the "facts?" That CBS will report the facts that support the current happy face stance of the resident?
This is a low point for journalism.
beebop| 2.16.11 @ 6:42AM
We have had EVERY recovery detail regarding Congresswoman Giffords and the immediate reaction was to tie her attacker to the right. But. GOD FORBID we make any connection to the "thugs" who attacked Logan and, say, the Muslim Brotherhood .... This is just beyond disbelief!
Occam's Tool| 2.16.11 @ 12:38PM
She's South African and not Jewish, I believe.
beebop| 2.16.11 @ 6:19PM
Absolutely! But the taunt was very real indeed and should chill anyone who believes that the BCE was inclusive!
Timothy L. Pennell| 2.16.11 @ 9:10AM
Unfortunately, this is what it ALWAYS takes, to wake a Liberal up, and force them to live in the REAL WORLD.
You see now, what it's like to be a WOMAN, in the Lands of these ANIMALS. You see what ISRAEL is surrounded by.
Arabs and Muslims in general, have been RAMPAGING the world for DECADES. They Bombed our Marine Barracks in Lebanon, while we were HELPING THEM evacuate Beirut. They blew up The Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, killing our people. They blew up the Nightclub in Berlin, killing our people. They blew up our Embassies, killing our people.
We HELPED them defeat the SOVIETS, in Afghanistan. We HELPED them stop the SERBS. We FED them in Somalia. We SAVED them after the Tsunami.
What happened to this Clueless Liberal "Reporter" should come as no surprise to anyone who's been paying attention since the Munich Olympics.
These people are ANIMALS. They have to cover their women, because, like animals, the sight of a women's HAIR is reason to RAPE. And to KILL. They worship a god of BLOOD. And wherever they go, Death, Rape, Murder, Subjugation, Hopelessness and Despair, is soon to follow.
The Arab Countries are run with an IRON FIST, for a reason.
You don't believe me?
Ask Laura Logan.
But, it's really GREAT that these wonderful people, who are just like me and you, now have a chance to CHOOSE who will lead them. Who could possibly be against that?
Deborah D | 2.16.11 @ 4:47PM
Do you think she'll actually learn from this? I certainly hope so, but when you're mired in liberal thinking, it's easier just to think..."Oh, that's their culture. They hate me because I'm South-African (or American or Jewish), because we deserve their hate." I hope I'm wrong. I hope this awful thing ends up with a good...someone who now knows the truth.
Carmen Gindi| 2.16.11 @ 9:30AM
Again, I am outraged by what happened to Ms. Logan, and though I don't know how the animals who did this to her would be caught and prosecuted, I hope that those soldiers and Egyptian women who pulled her out of the mob got a good look at their faces and/or caught them and beat them on the spot (which is what usually happens with men in Egypt who are caught trying that sort of thing).
On the other hand, please do not generalize about all of Egypt or Egyptians or Muslims or any group. The Tahrir square during the protests was largely peaceful, and many women reported feeling safe there (as opposed to being on the streets before the protests, where, admittedly, sexual harrassment was, and probably is still common--though not assault).
There were millions of people in Tahrir square when this happened, and a mob of men, whipped into a frenzy, took advantage of the distracted, crowded situation, and attacked Ms. Logan. Please do not assume that these men represent the millions of Egyptians who were in the square.
Besides, I'm not Muslim, but I don't think it's right to assume that those criminals are necessarily Muslim or members of Muslim brotherhood, or that any religion is somehow responsible for this male behaviour, a behaviour that is considered absolutely unacceptable in Egypt.
Alan Brooks| 2.16.11 @ 12:11PM
no, my cousin was raped by a civilian and then a cop in 1972, and she knew she had to get out of Morocco while the cop was still on her. She knew right then the police in Morocco were no ally.
And I do not think for a nanosecond that the Things who assaulted Ms. Logan will ever be so much as ticketed for jaywalking last week.
Occam's Tool| 2.16.11 @ 12:43PM
No, but that's the way to bet.
Occam's Tool| 2.16.11 @ 12:44PM
Sorry, but "no, that's the way to bet" was in response to a comment indicating that we shouldn't assume it was a member or ally of theMoslem Brotherhood who did the assault.
"Can't be sure, but the likelihood is 95%."
Ken (Old Texican)| 2.16.11 @ 9:39AM
Carmen,
I'm so glad you aren't a Muslim.
Tenn Slim| 2.16.11 @ 10:09AM
We should expect to see this on the State Run CBS media, soon.
All over the Net.
A dangerous job, News.
My sympathy to her, personally. The attack was vicious. Opine. The Egyptians will never deal with this, nor will we, THE NET, ever hear the justice side.
end
Semper Fi
Alan Brooks| 2.16.11 @ 12:17PM
Tenn Slim knows the situation. My cousin told me all about it... she knew if she had complained to a cop one more time in Morocco, she would have been gang-raped. Morocco and Egypt are not Denmark and Switzerland
Occam's Tool| 2.16.11 @ 12:41PM
My sympathies to your cousin. Myself, I am a big fan of large scale glass fusing being practiced where it might do some good---say, on the Aswan Dam?
DRed| 2.16.11 @ 2:34PM
That'll show em not to mistreat women! We'll kill 'em all, including the women! You're such a tool.
Patriot| 2.16.11 @ 3:27PM
Why don't you liberals object when Muslims say the same thing? Selective outrage, as usual.
gearjammer| 2.16.11 @ 10:36AM
I notice they are respecting her privacy and that of her family; They don't do that for you or me or someone outside their charmed, media in crowd circle. Others would have the vulgar and ruthless media circus occupying their lawn and barging through their windows. I am glad she is being treated with dignity and respect. But, if it was one of us and she smelled a scoop that might raise raise ratings a fraction of a per cent for ten seconds she'd be at you and yours with a vengeance-your privacy and feelings be damned. She is just another deadly snake in the barrel as far as her career goes.
Occam's Tool| 2.16.11 @ 12:42PM
Well, there are Plaintiff Malpractice attorneys (John Edwards), Child Rapists, and Journalists----in my experience with all three (always successful) there's rarely been much of a difference between them in terms of morality.
Dixie Pixie| 2.16.11 @ 2:11PM
I was outraged until I remembered that CBS was a major proponent of Islam as the Religion of Peace.
CBS was telling everyone the Egyptian riots were pro-democratic and peaceful.
CBS joyfully reported that when Obama called for peaceful protests, peace broke out immediately.
So is it not logical that a CBS reporter would think she was in no danger.
After all the MSM spoke with one voice that the Egyptian Riots were wholesome, Peaceful and a Joyous expression of Democracy.
So does partial blame for this incident fall on the MSM for misrepresenting the situation?
Is the 60 Minute's reporter also negligent in not seeing the situation as dangerous?
60 Minute's explanation is going to be a classic of liberal evasion of responsibly.
Oh...I get it...Its all Bush's fault...
Patriot| 2.16.11 @ 3:29PM
Are you sure? I was positive Sarah Palin was to blame.
Deborah D | 2.16.11 @ 4:50PM
Yes, Sarah is the new Bush. They had to transfer their hatred somewhere, and she showed up just in the nick of time.
CJohnson| 2.17.11 @ 11:02AM
Jeopardy Question for Watson: An uncontrolled mob of agitated males assaults sole woman. What is 'journalism'?