HarassMap: Help Reach The Tipping Point

Kelli Merritz | Ushahidi | May 30, 2013

There is nothing more empowering than enacting the change that you wish to see; and along the way, battling the stereotypes and the social stigma that sexual harassment brings. This is what HarassMap continues to do, as Egypt’s first independent initiative to directly address sexual harassment; seeking change in the Egyptian society at an ambitious level. To be on the street, processing and mapping text messages, emails, calls, and locally reported incidents is a challenge in itself. After 8 years of research, and 3 years of mapping reported incidents, HarassMap has proven they are capable and are ready to take the next step in their campaign’s journey.

In 2013, one UN Study found that 99.3% of Egyptian women admitted being sexually harassed. This is a massive problem! With HarassMap, these statistics are visualized and encourages men and women who are sexually harassed to speak up, to report it, to share their story with fellow citizens, and with the world. They continue to prove that the demographics and stereotypes that have been accepted are false and show no predictable trends of any kind. HarassMap needs to raise national awareness; in order to progress further, HarassMap now seeks to “change the perceptions associated with sexual harassment and create a positive association with standing up to harassment.”