Sexual harassment and related crimes will now be considered felony offenses, Egypt’s parliament agreed on Monday. The parliament increased the penalty for sexual harassment from a minimum of one year in prison to a minimum of five years, or a penalty of up to 300,000 Egyptian pounds, or $19,100, up from 20,000 pounds, Reuters reported.
It also increased jail time for the offense in which there is a power imbalance such as in a workplace or within a family, or where a weapon was used, to a minimum of seven years, up from two, and raised the fine to 500,000 Egyptian pounds, or nearly $32,000.
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The new penalties for such offenses come nearly one year after the parliament approved a law protecting the identity of victims of sexual harassment and assault, in the wake of a social media campaign that led to the arrest of a suspected sex offender. The law was approved after Egyptians began posting accounts of sexual assault on social media in a bid to raise awareness.
A parliamentary committee said in a report on Monday of laws passed in 2014 in support of women who are sexually harassed, that “although the punishments listed were a quantum leap at the time, they did not achieve the necessary deterrence,” Reuters reported.