By Sharanya Gopinathan
Egyptian photographer Marwa Ragheb‘s new photography project is called Your Silence is Harassment. Her project shows enacted scenes of sexual harassment, and many of the photos have the mouths of silent by-standers taped shut, to make a comment on how standing idly by when sexual harassment takes place also contributes to the cultures that allow for sexual harassment to happen.
It’s an important issue. A lot of people turn a blind eye to sexual harassment, even when it happens right in front of them, and it’s this feeling of impunity and the knowledge that there will be no repercussions to their behaviour that encourages men to sexually harass women.
A 2013 United Nations report says that a shocking 99.3 percent of all women in Egypt have been sexually harassed at some point of time in their lives. India isn’t far behind: a 2016 study by Manish Madan and Mahesh Nalla found that four out of five women in India report having been sexually harassed in public. Statistics from around the world show that projects like these are relevant everywhere.
The only issue I have with the project is how painfully scared all the women look.
I don’t love the whole the need-a-man-to-save-me vibe that some of the photos have going on, but it does make an important point on how gross it is that people feel okay watching sexual harassment happen in front of them, and how essential it is to support women who are being sexually harassed. Like we said in this piece on workplace sexual harassment, it is important to speak up, whether you’re witnessing sexual harassment or experiencing it yourself.
You can check out the rest of photos here.