This summer, Egyptian women and girls began speaking up against sexual crimes and felt connected to a power larger than themselves: solidarity. Finding hope among themselves, they were able to encourage more women to speak up and pressure authorities to take action. However, recent events have had psychological and emotional effects on many survivors, leading them to feel more discouraged to come forward. “I am losing hope. In the end, everything will backlash against me and I will not be able to speak up,” one of the many messages that are currently being sent to women’s rights activists like Molk Said, former UN Women project consultant and current founder of Eed Wahda, a social support platform dedicated to encourage women and girls to share their survivor stories anonymously in order to collectively and adequately support them. Eed Wahda is a platform that started on the basis of creating a sustainable, never ending initiative – thus far they have partnered up with various stakeholders such as ‘shezlong’ for free therapy, ‘Maatisaal’ for women to have access to justice – pro bono legal aid as well as know their rights and lastly…
Watch: #HopeStartsWithUs Campaign Encourages Egyptian Women to Speak Up Against Sexual Crimes
September 14, 2020
