Revolution and Egyptian Women

Women suffer from oppression in almost every single culture.  Within that oppression exists a devastating and horrifying tool of cruel men, rape. Rape is used all around the world in many different events.  I will be focusing on rape in Egypt during the recent revolution.  It will not be easy for me to discuss this topic, due to the fact that these are my people and this is my country, but the world needs to see the facts.

Rape did not only appear during the revolution, it was always there.  It did not really come to the surface until the recent events.  "The harassment of women in public is a serious issue in Egypt; more serious punishments for verbal harassment should be instituted and enforced.  Current statistics on the prevalence of rape, domestic abuse, and "honor killings" in Egypt are rare.  Crime pages of daily newspapers show that rape is quite widespread, even if most incidents are not reported or legally prosecuted by state, victims, or their families" (Nazir, 74).  I personally can tell you that when i lived in Egypt i couldn't walk down the block without an unnecessary comments and harassment.  Literally a woman could not walk without a man accompanying her.  What the writer means by "honor killings" is the murder of the raped women by their families to "save their honor", which makes this even more horrifying.  Not only that a woman is raped and might even get pregnant, but she is not defended but killed.

"A study conducted in 2008 found that 83 percent of Egyptian women have been sexually harassed in public and nearly half described the harassment as occurring on a daily basis.  Few women file formal complaints against attackers, either out of fear, embarrassment, or the recognition that the police are unlikely to pursue such cases" (Online 1).  This survey was conducted before the revolution, after there was no stopping.  Not only that rape increased highly but the responses of people, specifically men were horrendous.  "More unfortunate than the government's failure to act is the exacerbation of the problem by some in government and among the Salafi leadership...As a Salafi member of the Asala Party put it, ""Women sometimes bring rape upon themselves by putting themselves in positions which make them subject to rape"" (Online 1).  This video shows you a guy saying these comments starting at 3:26.

This video does not only show the comments of a man who walks freely after rapping a women, but it also shows you women who were raped, they tell us their stories.  "During the latest protests in Tahrir square, gangs of men encircle one of multiple women and drove them away from the crowd while violently beating them.  These attacks end up in sexual assaults and rape, where a woman can be violated for over an hour by more than dozens of men before being taken to the hospital. ""They made a very tight circle around me, they started moving their hands all over my body, they touched every inch of my body, they violated every inch of my body,"" Hania Moheeb, a sexual assault survivor told Human Rights Watch" (Online 2).  Many different stories including this one is shown in the above video

Since women could not find a way to protect themselves and no one stood up for them, they had to find a way to express their fear and pain. They found that through art, specifically through graffiti. They drew so much on the streets and made a point to the world. Of these artists is Maha Elnabawi, she left NYC to join the literary vanguards of Cairo before the Egyptian revolution, finding herself a new home amid the surrealism that is typical Egypt (Online 2).  She was part of the art movement "WOW" which stood for "Women on Walls" which was many different artists coming together to produce art of protest.  Most of these graffiti went without artists taking credit for it.  On the other hand there were groups that took this on they were called Zeft, Nazeer, Nemo and Mona Lisa Brigades.

"Egyptian graffiti artists are doing more than just painting art on street walls, they’re creating social awareness campaigns against corruption, media brainwashing, poverty and sexual harassment, and also using graffiti to beautify slum areas of Cairo to restore a sense of pride, ownership and hope to its residents" (Online 3).
"Zeft’s previous campaigns include his Nefertiti mask graffiti (image below), which was endorsed by anti-sexual harassment campaigns and spread to protests around the world in support of Egyptian women". (Online 3).

Don't label me

No to sexual harassment, by Mira Shihadeh

 woman swallowed up by a sea of men and their disgusting excuses for sexual assault. Mural by Mirah Shihadeh and Zeft

"Nemo is a street artist in Mansoura who has made graffiti raising awareness about street children, homeless people and poverty as well as sexual harassment. He is one of the most diligent street artists in Egypt and has dedicated pretty much every single graffito he’s made to honoring martyrs, advocating the revolution and drawing attention to the impoverished and disenfranchised millions of Egyptians. You can check his blog here" (Online 3).

There has been so much work to help women and men who try to make Egypt a better place, but these attempts will be on waste if the whole world doesn't know about it.  Protest brings an issue to the world to fix it, if the world can not see it then it is on vain.  That's why these artists work so hard to make their art for the world to see.

Link to it online is here.

Works Cited

"Egypt: Epidemic of Sexual Violence." YouTube. YouTube, 02 July 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZmdhwd3axw>.

"Graffiti for a Social Cause: Zeft, Nazeer, Nemo and Mona Lisa Brigades | Suzeeinthecity." Suzeeinthecity. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. <http://suzeeinthecity.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/graffiti-for-a-social-cause-zeft-nazeer-nemo-and-mona-lisa-brigades/>.

"Maha ElNabawi | Mada Masr." Maha ElNabawi | Mada Masr. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. <http://madamasr.com/content/maha-elnabawi>.

Nazir, Sameena, and Leigh Tomppert. Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Citizenship and Justice. New York: Freedom House, 2005. Print.

"Rape and Sexual Assault: The Hidden Side of Egypt’s Protests." Euronews. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. <http://www.euronews.com/2013/07/04/rape-and-sexual-assault-the-hidden-side-of-egypts-protests/>.

"VOICES: The Politics of Egypt's Rape, Sexual Assault Epidemic." Middle East Voices. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. <http://middleeastvoices.voanews.com/2013/03/voices-the-politics-of-egypts-rape-sexual-assault-epidemic-85138/>.

"'Women on Walls' Campaign Empowers Women via Street Art | Egypt Independent." 'Women on Walls' Campaign Empowers Women via Street Art | Egypt Independent. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. <http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/women-walls-campaign-empowers-women-street-art>.