Imagine walking around a mall looking for something you need to buy and you get sexually harassed. The complete stranger is following you, making indecent gestures and waiting to "take you home."
Once you stand up for yourself and confront the assailant, he slaps you, twice. Now imagine that assailant is let go by the security personnel whose only job is to protect you.
This is Samia Ebeid's story, a young college student who tried to put an end to her ordeal.
Reham Said, an Egyptian TV presenter who is often the center of controversy for all the wrong reasons, interviewed Ebeid on her TV show, "Sabaya El Kheir," on Al Nahr TV Channel.
However, the interview quickly turned into yet another nightmare for Ebeid when she found herself being questioned by Said, who blamed the victim for the way she was dressed. Said stated that the attack was provoked because of "inappropriate clothing." Said then went on to televise private images, which were allegedly illegally obtained from the victim's cellphone, without her consent.
Following the interview, which angered many Egyptians, Ebeid's family shunned the victim for bringing "shame" to them.
Said's comments and actions during and after the airing of the show were deemed outrageous and unacceptable by a large number of Egyptians resulting in a nationwide calling for her termination and prosecution. The outpouring outrage caused by Said resulted in an online petition on Avaaz.org and a Facebook event that currently has more than 118,000 people signed on. Other than calls to boycott Said's show, Egyptian men and women also calling for the boycott the Al Nahar TV Channel and all its sponsors.
Among those who are speaking up against Said are writer Doaa Sultan and artist Sama al-Masry, along with Eman al-Hadary, presenter of "90 Minutes", who gave Said a chance to explain her actions, to which Said responded with insults causing Hadary to abruptly end the interview.
While media tycoons are battling it out on national television, the Egyptian public along with people around the world are not standing idly by. As of Thursday evening, there are three trending hashtags on Twitter, all standing in solidarity with Ebeid .