The Egyptian Women Standing Up for Human Rights

Faced with a spike in sexual violence against female protesters, Egyptian women are overcoming stigma and recounting painful testimonies to force silent authorities and a reticent society to confront 'sexual terrorism' (Photo Credit: Mahmud Khaled/AFP/Getty Images).

Faced with a spike in sexual violence against female protesters, Egyptian women are overcoming stigma and recounting painful testimonies to force silent authorities and a reticent society to confront ‘sexual terrorism’ (Photo Credit: Mahmud Khaled/AFP/Getty Images).

The hopes and aspirations of Egypt’s 2011 uprising may rest in the ability of women to fight back against official discrimination and gender-based violence in the public arena.

Today, women play a leading role in the struggle for human rights in Egypt, but they’re paying a price for it through laws that marginalize them, increasing number of sexual assaults of women protesters and official pronouncements from authorities that women are to blame for the attacks on them.

A new Amnesty International campaign intends to reverse the loss of rights and to reclaim the promises of the Tahrir uprising by demanding that Egyptian authorities, both civilian and military, condemn sexual violence, fulfill their obligations to ensure women have the full spectrum of human rights and to press for accountability for past abuses.

Take action now by signing this online petition for Egyptian President Morsi.

In recent months, women protesters have faced a series of sexual attacks around Tahrir Square that culminated on Jan. 25, the second anniversary of the uprising. The sexual violence appears to have been a failed attempt at deterring women from attending protests and voicing their demands.

The authorities have often done little to stop or investigate such abuses. Instead, they have continued to resist accountability for sexual violence against women previously committed by state agents under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in 2011 and 2012.

Not only are women being assaulted in public, but they’re taking the blame for the assaults. In a Feb. 6 video posted online, one television-station owner said that women protesters had gone to Tahrir Square because they wanted to be raped, and that such women “made their hair fuzzy/untidy” and were “devils.”  In addition, members of Egypt’s Upper House of Parliament blamed the women protesters for violence against them in Tahrir Square.

But this is not a message of women being victimized; it is more a story of women activists standing tall and demanding their rights.

Amnesty International has documented the many brave Egyptian women who are not giving in, are not returning silently to their homes, but who are pushing back. There is Engy Ghozlan, an activist working in initiatives to combat sexual violence in Egypt.

There’s ‘Ayesha Amin,’ an activist working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) rights. Her name has been changed to protect her identity, but there is little that is quiet about her work.

And there is Azza Hilal Ahmad Suleiman, who was brutally assaulted by the army at a protest in December 2011. Badly injured, she is travelling Egypt and the world demanding that those who attacked her be brought to justice.

These names aren’t world famous, but they have the attention of the Egyptian officials, and they are the agents of change that human rights activists must stand and support.

It is not surprising that government and military officials are looking to roll back the demands of the 2011 uprising by pushing back on women’s rights. This has always been one method that Egyptian leaders can count on to help derail the movement for reform.

But the effort does underscore that the fight for women’s rights in Egypt and elsewhere is in fact a fight to secure full human rights. If there is to be a new era in Egypt of a political culture based on respect for human rights, the authorities as well as all political leaders must first combat their own deep-seated, discriminatory attitudes toward women and their human rights.

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11 thoughts on “The Egyptian Women Standing Up for Human Rights

  1. I'm glad they're standing up for themselves. I'm sure it's really hard to do given the circumstances, but in the end it will be worth it. I can't believe officials are stating that these women are bringing the violence upon themselves.

  2. I'm sure these women will do whatever it takes to get their message across and that's what they should do. It will be a horrible process for them, but it's a cause worth fighting for.

  3. Women will never be treated as they were in the past thanks to these brave souls. They are making huge efforts for the sake of all women to come and it is not easy for them. Their struggle is a long and trying one.

  4. The obstacles they will face are very difficult to overcome but I'm sure they will do whatever it takes to make things right. We will be reading about these women in our history books one day.

  5. While nothing will be achieved without suffering, pain and death, I'm glad the women in the middle east finally decided to stand up for themselves. Maybe they do it because they have seen how women are treated in other parts of the world and realised what happens there isn't normal, but the reason is irrelevant.

  6. Women who cannot stand up for themselves are always pulled by their hair, into issues like s**ual assaults. It is high time women understood how the future generations will also be in lesser danger by a single step taken today. Great strides taken Egypt! Way to go ladies!

  7. I think they are very brave and they deserve our applause for what they are doing! I am so sorry for what they have to go through, but I'm glad they found the strength to stand up for their rights!

  8. Ladies will never be dealt with as they were in the past on account of these daring souls. They are trying colossal endeavors for the purpose of all ladies to come and it is not simple for them. That is honourable for women.Their battle is a long and attempting one.

  9. Women are abused and mistreated all over the world esp if they are people of color, different religion, different culture in which they currently live: Here in the USA – women (white/black/brown/yellow, etc. no matter what color or creed – they are abused, physically, emotionally sexually with impunity – rights violated and they go unprotected from violence – be it domestic or police – In the USA we have not had one female president or vice president to date 4-29-15. And the only woman possibility who is not in the pocket of the male establishment or the political machine is Senator Elizabeth Warren – who will probably not get nominated or elected because of those reasons – Home of the Brave? Land of the Free? Not for women and especially for women of color

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