Egypt sexual harassment hits "savage" levels: MP

Egypt's deputy parliament speaker said women needed a law to protect them from sexual harassment which had reached "savage" levels in the country, Al-Destour newspaper reported on Tuesday.

"There must be a law to protect Egyptian society from collapse," the newspaper quoted Zeinab Radwan as telling a conference on sexual harassment on Monday.

"There is a savage attack on Egyptian women with sexual harassment on the streets. It has gone beyond all limits with the harassment of children," she said.

Sociologist Ibtihal Rashad, who also attended the conference, agreed and said: "There is no protection for the 18 million (female) citizens of Egypt who are affected."

Women's rights groups in Egypt have long campaigned against sexual harassment and assault in Cairo, accusing police of ignoring the phenomenon.

Convictions are relatively rare in Egypt, which does not have a law defining sexual harassment, but a court in 2008 sentenced a man to three years in jail for groping a woman.

According to the Egyptian Center for Women's Right, which organized the conference, 83 percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women in Egypt had experienced sexual harassment.

There must be a law to protect Egyptian society from collapse

Deputy parliament speaker