Was Justice Served to Egyptian Lawyer Inciting Rape for Women in Distressed Jeans?

Nabih al-Wahsh, a well known Egyptian lawyer, caused outrage in October following his distasteful opinion on rape, during a debate on a draft law on prostitution. In his opinion, he believes women who wear distressed/ ripped jeans deserve to be raped.

“Are you happy when you see a girl walking down the street with half of her behind showing?” he said.

“I say that when a girl walks about like that, it is a patriotic duty to sexually harass her and a national duty to rape her,” he added.

Mr Wahsh said that women who wore revealing clothing were “inviting men to harass them”, and said “protecting morals is more important than protecting borders”.

These comments prompted fury across the country as Egypt’s National Council for Women announced it plans to file a complaint against the TV channel and issued a plea for media outlets to refrain from providing a platform for individuals who incite violence against women.

The National Council also said it would be filing a complaint against Mr al-Wahsh himself and rebuked his assertion.

Maya Mursi, Head of the National Council for Women’s Rights said the comments were a “flagrant call” for rape and violate ‘everything in the Egyptian constitution.

Giving an update on the matter, BBC reports that the lawyer has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Nabih al-Wahsh, a prominent conservative, was also fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds (£839; $1,130).

Wahsh, has also previously stated his opposition to women serving as judges, arguing that if women become judges they could also become muftis – a Muslim legal expert who has the power to give rulings on religious issues.

”If we let a woman become a judge, why shouldn’t she become Sheik of Al-Azhar? Why shouldn’t she become the Mufti? Why don’t we all just go to Hell?! Will she issue me a fatwa while she is menstruating?!”
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His latest comments come after the Egyptian capital of Cairo was recently branded the “most dangerous” mega city for women in the first international poll which looked at how women fare in cities with over 10 million people.

According to a study conducted by the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights in 2008, 83 per cent of women said they’d been sexually harassed, while 62 per cent of men admitted to harassing women.

In October last year, Mr Wahsh was involved in a TV studio brawl with a cleric, after the cleric suggested women should not necessarily have to wear a headscarf.

Photo credit: Al-Arabiya