The German Federal Criminal Police Office said the incidents were a phenomenon known in the Arab World as "taharrush jamai" (translated as "group sexual harassment"), and likened it to incidents in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the Egyptian revolution of 2011.
The German Federal Criminal Police Office said on 9 January that the incidents were a phenomenon known in the Arab World as "taharrush gamea" in Arabic. Translated as "group sexual harassment in crowds," it is comparable to criminal acts committed in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the Egyptian revolution of 2011.