I have read reports in recent news about women in Egypt (particularly protesters) being assaulted and raped - not while alone in dark alleys, but right out on the streets surrounded by people and I have read that anyone who comes to her aid is similarly assaulted and beaten. Does anyone currently in or recently in Egypt have an opinion about whether a foreign female should be traveling in Egypt alone right now? I will not be alone at all times and I may seek refuge in a scheduled tour (not my usual style of travel, but is this perhaps safer?) but what about traveling in taxi cabs, seeing sights, walking down the streets of Cairo, Luxor, Sharm? I was comfortable when I booked my trip, but I am growing more worried by the day. Any thoughts are appreciated.
There's not any danger walking on the street in Egypt. Loads of Western women live in Cairo, and it feels safer than most Western big cities, as long as you follow the golden rule: do not enter crowds.
All the women who've been assaulted the past year were attacked while they were in the middle of dense crowds of protesters, making it very difficult for the police or for people to rescue them - when thousands of people are pressed against each other, you cannot do much to get a person out of the crowd and prevent bad men from touching her. You also run the risk of being trampled.
Many of the women who were targeted were TV journalists, and were targeted as journalists - some thugs want to discourage TVs from reporting on Egypt. A couple of other women were targeted for no particular reason. sadly you'll always have some bad guys were around, looking for a bad deed because they know that they will be able to escape in the dense crowd.
Stay away from crowds of protesters or crowds celebrating something (political event, football match...) and you'll be as safe as in the US.
Also worth adding that there are some cases of handbag snatching, Italian style, in the most affluent neighborhoods in Cairo. Carry your stuff in a backpack.
The above answers are fair enough, but I'd like to add that Luxor, Aswan and Sharm are very quiet cities with no political events or protests, you can enjoy ur time there very well.
As for Cairo it's like any other big city in the world, it has classy places (mainly for tourists) lol (and rich Egyptian of course) and other bad areas that u have to avoid, but all historical places and such areas where tourists hit oftenly are well secured by the police, just try not to go into protests as Egyptian police is very stupid and try to deceive the people by making them believe that any protest is planned by foreign countries lol, though u'd like watching protests in here but I don't advice.
As a woman, try not to wear hot clothes, people here are really conservatives.
taxi cabs are fine, and in general most hotels are arranging with certain cabs to call them on need, so you can ask your reciptionist to call a cab for you.
feel free to ask any more questions :)
I hope you like our country and have a happy trip, don't forget you camera to capture the best moments :)
Thank you Willii and CatW. I have never been to Egypt and I am very excited to see your beautiful country. I have been reading to understand appropriate dress and behaviors as I prefer to fit in than offend. I promise to be careful to do both. I am a seasoned traveler, but this region is new to me. Thank you for your kind advice.
if it happen to need to know about anything just email me I'd be glad to answer all ur Q's
hr4emco@gmail.com
I really have my doubts whether or not this will be posted.
You need to Google, Sexual harassment in Egypt to find out the true story. You might also Google Amnesty International who are currently working with the UN office for human rights to try to do something about gender based violence in Egypt. Do some research. On January 25th, 19 women were sexually assaulted in Cairo according to Amnesty International. One of them was was very seriously injured and needed emergency surgery.
Try this link to Amnesty.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/egypt-impunity-fuels-sexual-violence-2013-02-06
Thank you for the link Marie. Now that the political/legal pendulum has swung towards Sharia you can bet that gender based violence in Egypt will increase. Those perpetrating these crimes will no doubt be dealt with with a wink and a nod. As Amnesty International points out this will fuel the problem.
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