AS406 Winter Essay Outline: Women in Islam, Sexual Harassment

This essay outline delves into the multifaceted issue of women in Islam, focusing on the societal expectations of modesty and its relationship to sexual harassment, particularly within the context of Egypt. The essay identifies the core issue as the potential for Islamic modesty to paradoxically victimize and sexualize women, rather than protect them. It presents a thesis arguing that the expectation of women to cover themselves is a principle that places undue blame on women for their predicament. The outline examines the rise of sexual harassment in Egypt, especially after the Arab Spring, and the role of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood. The arguments presented include the increase in assaults on women, the prevalence of harassment regardless of attire, and the misuse of Islamic principles. Counter-arguments acknowledge that some women choose to wear the hijab for religious reasons. The outline includes a comprehensive bibliography with relevant sources.

Running head: WOMEN IN ISLAM
WOMEN IN ISLAM
Name of the Student
Name of the University ‘
Author Note

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Issue and Judgements
This particular essay shall de dealing with the issue of the Islamic form of modesty and
the judgement levelled against it is that it instead of protecting women from sexual predators and
respecting them tends to victimize and sexualize them even more. It goes both ways, the idea of
either covering women or allowing them the liberty to dress skimpily, it has always been from
the perspective of the convenience and desires of the men (Brown & Osman, 2017).
Thesis Statement
The thesis statement for this particular essay shall be to substantiate the fact that the
Islamic expectation of women to observe modesty by means of covering themselves as much as
possible in order to safeguard themselves from sexual predators and for the sake of maintaining
their honour is but a farsical and archaic principle which puts the onus of blame on women for
their predicament. The arguments shall be basically based on the context of Egypt.
Context of the Issue
In the current context the issue of sexual harrassment of women in the Islamic world and
most surprisingly in the holiest pilgrimage site of the muslims, the Masjid Al Haram of Mecca
proves that no matter how much a women covers herself up, she is still likely to get harassed
(Abdelmonem, 2015).
In this the degrading practice of Taharrush Jamai of Egypt, and the rising cases of sexual
harassments of women in the country post the Arab Spring of 2013 as a means of disciplining
women and subjugating them must be mentioned. This substantiates that modesty and prevention
of sexual harassments are not directly proportional to each other (Abdelmonem, 2015).

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Scores of women are taking to the streets are taking to the streets across Egypt to launch
a movement against the rising cases of sexual harassments on women at the level of civil society.
Surprisingly, both the hijab cladded and the ones preferring not to wear it have joined hands
together to protest against the government (Abdelmonem, 2015).
Main Arguments
The political party, the Muslim Brotherhood has in the name of promotion of Islamic
values among the masses and in women generally have deployed young men to assault women
who appear publicly without hijab. The real motive is to curb the rising voices of women in
political matters which are perceived as threat by the political leaders of the country. To
substantiate this premise, three supporting arguments shall be provided (Abdelmonem, 2015).
Firstly, ever since the Arab Spring that had caused the authoritarian President Hosni
Mobarek to be dethroned of his power, the women have become the soft targets and the mass
assault on the women have increased. The most iconic being the sexual assault of a female
journalist at the Tahrir Square (Abdelmonem & Galán, 2017).
Secondly, irrespective of a woman being dressed islamically or unislamically, they tend
to get harassed on the streets (Brown & Osman, 2017).
Thirdly, the way Muslim Brotherhood implements the rule of hijab in the country is not
at all Islamic as Islam makes hijab an imperative and does not permit harassment of women on
the basis of her dressing (Khalil, 2016).
The counter-argument that can be provided is that muslim women by choice tend to wear
the hijab as modesty is not the only reason behind it. Religious muslim women tend to wear it as
a mark of obedience to god. Hence, saying that women in islam are forced to wear a hijab is not

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a true statement. Egypt despite being a muslim nation does not legally force women to wear a
hijab like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan does (Khalil, 2016).

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References
Abdelmonem, A. (2015). Reconceptualizing sexual harassment in Egypt: A longitudinal
assessment of el-Taharrush el-Ginsy in Arabic Online Forums and Anti-sexual
harassment Activism. Kohl: A Journal for Body and Gender Research, 1(1), 23-41.
Abdelmonem, A., & Galán, S. (2017). Action-Oriented Responses to Sexual Harassment in
Egypt: The Cases of HarassMap and WenDo. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies,
13(1), 154-167.
Brown, L., & Osman, H. (2017). The female tourist experience in Egypt as an Islamic
destination. Annals of Tourism Research, 63, 12-22.
Khalil, A. (Ed.). (2016). Gender, women and the Arab spring. Routledge.