EGYPT STEPS UP PENALTIES FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The amendment makes sexual harassment a criminal offence, as opposed to a misdemeanor and raises the minimum penalty from a year and half in prison plus a fine.

FILE: Multiple studies have found that most Egyptian women have experienced sexual harassment at least once in their lives. Picture: pixabay.com

AFP | 

CAIRO - Egypt's parliament on Sunday passed a law toughening sentences for sexual harassment to at least five years in prison, Egyptian media outlets reported.

The amendment makes sexual harassment a criminal offence, as opposed to a misdemeanor and raises the minimum penalty from a year and half in prison plus a fine.

It also imposes a minimum sentence of seven years in prison for crimes in which the attacker uses a weapon, or in which multiple attackers are involved.

Multiple studies have found that most Egyptian women have experienced sexual harassment at least once in their lives. Recent years have also seen a string of group attacks in crowded areas.