South Sinai tackles harassment

The Governor of South Sinai, Khaled Fouda, held a meeting Thursday with an array of senior security officials to tackle complaints of sexual harassment made by tourists. The meeting included the directors of public and homeland security, intelligence, investigations, vice, tourism police and members of the tourism industry. The Director of Security, Mahmoud el-Hefnawi, said there was no systemic problem in security in the province. He said "only 50" incidents had been logged, "including incidents of verbal harassment." He said all culprits were arrested and "it appeared that most incidents took place in hotels and tourist establishments" and very few happened in the street, caused by the behaviour of "immoral drivers." The governor asked tourism industry representatives to urge hoteliers to instate and enforce strict rules at their establishment. He also said he would speak to the tourism minister about setting up awareness training for workers in tourism and approach the ministry of religious affairs about the need for Friday sermons to highlight the issue and stress that harassment is sinful. ouda also called on businessmen and investors to come together to set up awareness training for taxi drivers and launch a poster campaign urging the public to respect tourists and show the good side of Egypt.