We live near a souq (farmer’s market).
Every day, I see peasant girls on their way to the souq to sell bunches of watercress. They are young; 16 or 17 years old.
I see the dirty and disgusting way men treat these young girls. The insinuations. The groping.
I was waiting for my husband in the car one time. I remember wishing I was a man, so I could get out of the car and smack one of the harasser’s with a shoe. I wanted to tell him to have some respect.
Why do you treat her like that?
Because she's young and doesn't understand what’s going on?
Because she's a peasant?
She's just here to make money.
God knows, maybe she's helping out her father or her siblings.
Maybe she’s married and has kids of her own.
But I couldn’t get out of the car. I knew what they’d say: “You’re asking for it too!”
*Performed in:
- Shut Up - Assiut - 2015
