Why Egyptian women are taking to the streets in 1960s-style dresses
In their latest demonstration against sexual harassment, Egyptian women in 1960s-style dresses took to the streets of downtown Cairo for a photo shoot in celebration of how tolerant Egyptian society once was — and could be again.
![Dressescairo.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2016/12/Dressescairo.jpg/Dressescairo.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=8EdXCcnG)
A new Egyptian initiative is calling upon women to wear 1960s-style dresses as a way to fight sexual harassment. The initiative, dubbed “Dresses of the Past When Our Streets Were Safe,” seeks to normalize the sight of women on the streets wearing dresses as it was in the 1960s, when sexual harassment rates were at their lowest.
Hadia Abdel-Fattah, the feminist activist behind the initiative, told Al-Monitor, “It is not about clothing, because no matter what you wear you will get harassed anyway. That is why we encourage women to wear whatever they like.”
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