EGYPT'S RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY

EGYPT'S religious authority says all sexual harassment 'forbidden'.

EGYPT'S highest Sunni religious authority has said there can be no justification for sexual harassment, in a country where many people often blame women themselves for the widespread problem they face.

In a statement AI-Azhar blasted all forms of harassment as a............  ''forbidden act and deviant behaviour'' and said ''the one who carries it out is a sinner''.

Criminalising sexual harassment must be absolute and free from any condition or context,'' the statement released Monday said.

''Justifying sexual harassment with the behaviour or clothing of the woman is a misunderstanding, for sexual harassment is an assault on the woman and her freedom and dignity,'' it said.

Some 60% of women in Egypt said they had been victims of some form of  sexual harassment during their lifetime in 2017 report from UN Women and Promundo.

Three-quarters of men and 84% of women polled said that women who ''dress provocatively deserve to be harassed.''

The divisions have been highlighted by a recent debate over a video posted on the Internet by an Egyptian woman showing a man  making unwanted advances on her in a Cairo street.

The footage of the man parking his car and approaching a woman to go for coffee went viral and drew wide-ranging  reactions online. [Agencies].