Teacher Fired for Sexually Harassing 120 Students in Alex

Egypt's High Administrative Court decided on Sunday to fire a maths teacher over charges of sexually harassing more than 120 students at a primary school in Alexandria governorate.

The court explained that the decision was taken following recent investigations over the students’ allegations that they have been subjected to sexual harassment by the dismissed teacher.

It is noteworthy that Cairo University fired, in 2019, a Mass Communication professor, Yaseen Lasheen, for being allegedly accused of sexual harassment and blackmail of a female student.

Cairo University President, Mohamed Al-Khosht, referred Lasheen to public prosecution on allegations of sexual harassment and blackmail, which dates back to August 2017.

The university explained in a statement on Friday that the decision was taken following recent investigations conducted by the university’s legal affairs department as per the allegations.

In 2014, sexual harassment has been defined in the law in Egypt, as penalties and punishments for offenders with sentences ranging from one year to ten years and a fine ranging from EGP 10,000 to EGP 20,000.

Previously, Egypt had no specific law forbidding sexual harassment. However, some articles in the penal code were sometimes enforced in the occurrence of harassment cases.

Sexual harassment was also extended to include verbal harassment, sexual gestures or harassment through phones or other means of communication.

Outside the classroom, more than 99 percent of women surveyed across seven of the country's 27 governorates reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and assault, ranging from minor harassment to rape, according to an April 2013 report by the United Nations along with Egypt's Demographic Centre and the National Planning Institute.