Beenish Ahmed says the most remarkable thing about the Egyptian protests might not be the size and scope -- but that women are involved in the first place. Asmaa Mahfouz -- a 26-year-old Cairo University graduate -- starred in video appeals widely circulated on Facebook that helped spur the latest protests in Egypt and turn them into a mass public uprising. It's not only remarkable that social media was so effective in a country where dissent has for decades been driven underground: It's perhaps most remarkable that Mahfouz is a woman. In Egypt, street and sexual harassment has been endemic, even described as a "social cancer." Egyptian women have become rightfully wary of any sort of public demonstration where they might become targets of abuse. During the 2009 celebration of Eid al-Fitr, no fewer than 150 men were arrested for a harassing spree in a single Cairo neighborhood. KEEP READING. . .
