Report to the police

Sexual harassment, including verbal harassment, is a crime that is punishable by law.

Know the law

Get help


 

Here are some steps for how to report it to the police:


1. Try to catch the harasser and take him to the police station – ask others for help and ask for their support as witnesses. Even if you do not manage to catch the harasser, you can still make a report.

2. Go to the nearest police station and say that you want to file a police report because someone harassed you.

3. If you need legal advice you can call Nazra’s hotline: 01011910917

4. In the report you will be asked for example:

What is your name?
Do you have any ID?
What do you do for a living?
Describe the way you were harassed. Try to include as much detail as possible, even if it might be uncomfortable. You can ask to write it down rather than saying it. More details about exactly what happened will help your case.
When and where did the incident happen?
Where is the harasser?
Have you caught the harasser?
Did anyone witness this incident in detail?
Describe the surrounding conditions.

5. If there are witnesses, they must report their name, age, place of residence, their relationship with the harasser, what they were doing, where they were at the time of the incident and what exactly they witnessed.

6. If the harasser is caught, he will be asked for his name, age, profession, place of residence, reason he was at the place of the incident, whether or not he harassed you, and if he knows you or had seen you before. He will then be questioned.

7. After taking your report, you should get a chance to read it and sign it, and you should take the report number.

8. You, the witnesses, and the harasser will be taken to the prosecutor’s office for interrogation with a copy of the report. Depending on what time of the day you make the report, this may happen the the same day or the following day.

9. The harasser will be detained based on the crime committed. A trial date will be set.

10. If the harasser is not caught, you will be asked if you knew him before and if you or the witnesses can provide information about him. The report is filed, closed and assigned an administrative number that you will need in order to ask the prosecutor’s office about the final decision. If the harasser can be identified from the report or an investigation, the case will be registered. The report is assigned a status number until the harasser is questioned. If the harasser cannot be identified or found, the case will be filed away.

You can also check out this list to access more free advice on how to deal with the police and other legal issues.

This list was compiled by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights.