Egypt’s activists rise up against sexual assaults in Tahrir Square

Egypt’s activists rise up against sexual assaults in Tahrir Square

In Egypt, sexual assaults are on the rise during anti-government protests. This video diffused online shows an attempted rape, thought to have taken place last week in Tahrir Square in Cairo. A voice describes the images and recounts the assault from the point of view of the victim, in the grip of many hands all trying to undress her. The young woman is finally saved by other activists, recognisable by their work site helmets and white T-shirts, all determined to prevent this type of sexual assault.

Since November, several groups on social networks have been recruiting volunteers to monitor the movements of suspicious crowd members and to ensure the protection of women participating in protests in Cairo. These associations also offer self-defence classes for women.

Sexual harassment is however not a new problem in Egypt. Verbal insults, exhibitionism and molesting are all daily occurrences for Egyptian women. The phenomenon is displayed on this interactive map on which victims can express what they have experienced.

A scourge which seems nevertheless on the increase as hordes of men take advantage of the confusion during large-scale protests to perpetrate this type of assault. Assaults which, according to opponents, may be being orchestrated by the government to terrorise female protesters. But in this video, posted online by the newspaper, Al-Ahram, activist, Engy Ghozlan recalls that nothing will dissuade female Egyptians from taking to the streets to express their opinions.

Video showing team building exercise sparks outrage in China

This is one of the most shared videos on the Chinese web since its posting online on the sixteenth of January. It has been viewed over four million times on China’s various share sites. The video shows employees at Hotel Arirang in Dandong, a city close to North Korea, participating frenetically in a team building session, with physical exercises worthy of a military boot camp. And although this type of group session is frequent in China, the images have nevertheless caused indignation from some local net users, who denounce in particular the degree of fanaticism from female participants.

For many Weibo users, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, this team building session is tantamount to brain washing. Net users also criticise a breach of human rights and assert, like here, that it is not necessary to take such extreme steps to instil a company culture in employees.

Others use sarcasm when discussing the affair, such as these micro bloggers who consider ironically that the women filmed in the controversial video should join the army rather than working in a hotel or they could be entrusted with recovering the Diaoyu Islands, an archipelago at the heart of a territorial conflict between China and Japan.

Faced with the scale of outrage, the owner of the hotel in which the scene took place has chosen to speak out. But instead of apologising to alleviate the scandal, the man has simply explained that the images should never have been made public and that overall he does not regret the debacle as it created free publicity for his establishment.

Dubai: panoramic view from the top of the world’s tallest building

An incredible panoramic view of Dubai taken from the roof of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. This discovery is offered to net users thanks to this interactive map recently posted online. A map offering a unique and aerial vision of the city that rises from the dunes.

Photos of Sam, the cat with eyebrows, go viral

This little cat named Sam has been winning over net users hearts all over the world for the last few weeks. His particular feature are two black marks on his head which make the kitten look like he has large eyebrows making him seem permanently worried. A little fur ball with many fans on the net, who enjoy perusing the dozens of pictures published online by his owner on his Instagram page.

Video of the day

Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine are two cookery fans who recently spent three weeks in India. A unique trip which they decided to immortalise with this video called, ‘a day in India’, offering an insight into the country’s culinary specialities. A video brimming with colours and flavours which is sure to make mouths water.