Women share their stories of sexual assault at Haj; #MosqueMeToo becomes top social media trend

The #MeToo movement that originated after movie tycoon Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed a number of aspiring and famous actresses, became a global phenomenon.

Women – cutting across national borders – shared stories of how they were assaulted by both family members and strangers, creating global outrage.

More recently, several Muslim women came out to share their sexual harassment stories while visiting Mecca, the holy centre for Islam.

The first post was shared by a woman on Facebook, which has subsequently been deleted.

This is what it said.

“*I was afraid to share this because it might hurt your religious sentiments*.

While performing my tawaaf around the Kaaba after isha prayer, something really weird happened. It was my 3rd tawaf, and I felt a hand on my waist. I thought it was just an innocent mistake. I completely ignored. Then… I felt it again. It made me feel very uncomfortable. I kept moving. During my 6th tawaf I suddenly felt something aggressively poking my butt, I froze, unsure of whether it was intentional. I ignored and just kept moving slowly because the crowd was huge. I even tried to turn around but woefully couldn’t. When I reached the Yemeni corner, someone tried to grab and pinch my …read more