In a media landscape often dominated by familiar storylines and recurring social themes, Lam Shamseya breaks new ground. Released during Ramadan 2025, the Egyptian series marks a significant turning point as the first mainstream production to confront the deeply sensitive issue of child harassment. The drama follows the story of Nelly, played by Amina Khalil, who discovers that her stepson, Youssef, portrayed by Ali Beialy, has been sexually harassed by his father’s best friend, Wessam, played by Mohamed Shahin. This is no small feat in a society where conversations about abuse, especially when it involves children, are often cloaked in silence or brushed aside under the weight of social taboo. Though data on child sexual abuse in Egypt is limited, a 2018 study from the Ain Shams Journal of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology offers a disturbing glimpse into the scale of the problem. The study examined 740 reported cases involving children and teenagers aged 1 to 18. Girls made up the majority of victims at nearly 53 percent, and the highest number of cases involved adolescents aged 11 to 18. Most of the abuse was carried out by a…
Lam Shamseya: A 2025 Ramadan Favorite Shedding Light on the Dark Reality of Child Harassment
April 13, 2025
