Dire le harcèlement sexuel en Égypte: Les aléas de traduction d’une catégorie juridique

Abstract

Since the Beijing conference on women's rights in 1995, the expression “taharrush jinsi” has gradually become the standard way of translating “sexual harassment” in Egypt. By studying the circulation of this notion, one may sketch the manner in which it has since the mid-2000s been constructed as a matter of public concern at the national level. In fact, it represents a strategic resource for women’s rights associations, which seek to establish taharush jinsi as the only legitimate problematic for addressing the issue of women’s security when circulating in public. Yet its growing popularity has exposed the expression to contradictory re-appropriations, particularly on the part of defenders of religious categories, who favor the vocabulary of modesty. Divergent security approaches might prove decisive for how the problematic is perceived in various quarters, thereby raising the question of the potential and limits of introducing legal categories as a strategy for mobilizations centered on sexual causes.