Sexual Harassment Protest in downtown Cairo

Sexual harassment protest in front of the stat TV building in Cairo.

“Bahiya ya Masr,” or “Beautiful Egypt,” a group advocating women’s rights, protested on Sunday against the Egyptian Information Minister’s “sexist” comments towards two female journalists.

Salah Abdul Maksoud, angered many Egyptians after he told a female reporter to “come to my office and I will show you how,” as she mentioned the lack of freedom for expression.

Last Wednesday, during a press conference at the Information Ministry, the official repeated his infamous remark, when he told yet another female journalist from the private Al-Nahar TV station: “come to my office and I will tell you,” after she enquired about Egyptian TV content.

Inspiring Interview With Dr. Magda Adly

Today, as part of the filming for my upcoming documentary about women's rights in the Middle East, I had an interview with Dr. Magda Adly, the Director of Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence.

Dr. Adly revealed a few chilling statistics about violence against women in Egypt. She was very moved and sad when she told me the number of women who had been victim of sexual harassment in Tahrir Square. Many of them were targeted because of what the Square represented during the revolution. Tahrir Square was the place where all Egyptians came together and agreed on one thing: to remove Mubarak from office.

Dr. Adly also talked with me about the impact of religion and tradition on women's lives in Egypt. For example, how sad women get when they discover that they are having a baby girl, and how difficult it is for a wife to bring the news to her husband. Having many girls may even result in divorce, or it is sometimes used as an excuse for a man getting a second wife, or more.

She emphasized that couples are almost universally interested in having a boy over a girl. Even though they both understand it is not the woman's fault if she is pregnant with a girl. She is blamed for it anyway.

It was an amazing interview with an incredible woman, who has been working her entire life to combat violence against women. I'm excited to have her as part of my upcoming film.