Holy Cross Professor Examines ‘Why Egyptians have mobilized against public sexual violence’

In a recent blog post for The Washington Post’s “The Monkey Cage,” Vickie Langohr, associate professor of political science at the College of the Holy Cross, discusses Egyptian activism against public sexual violence, or PSV. Launched in 2012, young activists, both female and male, began a number of groups dedicated to ending sexual harassment.

“This activism represents the kind of change political scientists often miss,” Langohr writes. “Democracy advocates and political scientists alike tend to focus on quantifiable changes in electoral politics, laws and constitutions. But how can we measure less tangible changes in societal norms that may have even more impact on securing citizens’ daily freedoms?”

Langohr credits part of the rise of this new wave of activism to the changing face of Egyptian television, in which televised discussion of PSV expanded and helped to spread and normalize two central arguments: “that perpetrators are engaging in an unacceptable, and criminal, form of behavior, not excusable by any form of women’s dress; and that it is the responsibility of all Egyptians—everyday citizens and leaders alike—to work to stop it.”

Read the full article on The Washington Post’s “The Monkey Cage” blog.

This “Holy Cross in the News” item is by Emma Collins ’16.