Soraya Bahgat

Last updated
Soraya Bahgat
Born
Finland
NationalityFinnish, Egyptian

Soraya Bahgat is a Finnish-Egyptian social entrepreneur and women's rights advocate active in Egypt. [1] [2]

Contents

In 2012, she founded Tahrir Bodyguard, a movement comprising uniformed volunteers to protect women from the mob sexual assaults in Tahrir Square. [3]

Early life

Bahgat was born in Finland to Egyptian parents. Her family moved to Egypt when she was seven years old. [4]

Tahrir Bodyguard

While at the office and on the way to Tahrir Square to join mass protests, Soraya Bahgat decided to launch Tahrir Bodyguard following a panic attack over safety concerns amidst the ongoing mob sexual assaults. [5]

Recognizing the power of Twitter, she immediately took to the site to start an account and started tweeting safety tips and calls for volunteers. In an interview with The Atlantic she stated that she was overwhelmed by the account's immediate reach, with over 600 followers during the first 2 hours. [6]

She recruited a core group of trusted individuals to help her build the movement's foundations and recruit the volunteers. She started by purchasing 200 uniforms comprising construction helmets and neon vests and soon enough the group managed to recruit the needed volunteers. [7] The volunteers' uniforms comprising construction helmets and neon vests were intended to protect the volunteers and make them easily visible at night. [8]

Tahrir Bodyguard operated in two ways. First, the group proactively patrolled Tahrir Square and its surroundings to protect the women and identify areas where assaults could occur. Second, the group engaged with the mobs to free women being assaulted and take them to ambulances stationed outside the square. [9]

At the beginning, she was anonymous and gave an interview to Gawker in December 2012 using a pseudonym. [10] In February 2013, her name and occupation were revealed in a profile by the Associated Press. [11]

During down times where there was no activity in Tahrir Square, the group offered free self-defense classes for women to empower them to own the streets. [12]

Women’s Advocacy and Community Engagement

She is a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of The Girl Generation, the Africa-led movement to end female genital mutilation in one generation. [13] Italian-Egyptian model, actress and philanthropist Elisa Sednaoui has named her as a friend and collaborator on her foundation's website. [14] In 2014, Soraya became one of the nonprofit organization's trustees promoting creative learning through special after-school programs for disadvantaged youngsters in Egypt and other countries. [15] Between 2008 and 2012, she served on the board of the Gezira Youth Center. [16]

Public Appearances

Together with her Tahrir Bodyguard colleagues she appeared in a France 24 documentary by French journalist Sonia Dridi entitled “Sexual harassment, an Egyptian disease". The documentary which included interviews with Mona Eltahawy and other Egyptian activists closely followed the Tahrir Bodyguard team during their preparations and as they patrolled the vicinity of Tahrir Square. [17] In March 2013, Soraya appeared alongside Harassmap’s Ebaa El-Tamami in a special episode of the widely popular show Al Bernameg hosted by Bassem Youssef . [18] The episode was fully dedicated to tackling the issue of sexual harassment of women in Egypt and utilized humor and satire to dispel many of the misconceptions about the topic, especially those that place the blame on women. In May 2013, Soraya gave a speech on women in Egypt at the Oslo Freedom Forum entitled “The voice of a woman is a revolution”. [19] In her speech she described the courage that women showed in protesting alongside men during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and denounced the attacks and harassment they have faced since then. [20] She also highlighted the pandemic of mob sexual assaults in Tahrir Square and the various efforts by civilians to combat these assaults. “We’re putting up a fight, we’re not afraid,” she said. “When they tried to silence Egyptian women, we became even more defiant.” Following her speech, she participated in a panel discussion entitled "women under threat” that also included Lebanese journalist Jenan Moussa, British journalist and barrister Afua Hirsch and co-founder and assistant executive director of the Panzi Foundation USA Lee Ann De Reus. The panel discussion was moderated by BBC television Newsreader and journalist Philippa Thomas. [21]

Honors and awards

The Finnish Government granted her its Hän Honor for Gender Equality for her work combatting gender-based violence and promoting gender equality in December 2019.

In September 2015, she was one of 22 young Arab leaders selected for the German Bundestag’s International Parliamentary Scholarship program [22]

In April 2015, she was chosen as one of 22 Mediterranean women leaders of the future by Sciences Po and the French government. [16]

In March 2014, she was chosen as one of the mentees in the Fortune Magazine/ US State Department Global Women's Mentoring Partnership held in collaboration with Vital Voices.

Education

Soraya is a graduate of the American University in Cairo and Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne. She also studied at the University of Helsinki [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mona Eltahawy</span> Egyptian-American journalist (born 1967)

Mona Eltahawy is a freelance Egyptian-American journalist and social commentator based in New York City. She has written essays and op-eds for publications worldwide on Egypt and the Islamic world, on topics including women's rights, patriarchy, and Muslim political and social affairs. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and the Miami Herald among others. Headscarves and Hymens, Eltahawy's first book, was published in May 2015. Eltahawy has been a guest analyst on U.S. radio and television news shows. She is among people who spearheaded the Mosque Me Too movement by using the hashtag #MosqueMeToo.

The role of women in Egypt has changed throughout history, from ancient to modern times. From the earliest preserved archaeological records, Egyptian women were considered equal to men in Egyptian society, regardless of marital status.

Twitter Revolution is a term used to refer to different revolutions and protests, most of which featured the use of the social networking site X, formerly and commonly called Twitter by protesters and demonstrators in order to communicate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryam al-Khawaja</span> Bahraini human rights activist

Maryam Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is a Bahraini human rights activist. She is the daughter of the Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and former co-director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR). She is currently the Special Advisor on Advocacy with the GCHR, and works as a consultant with NGOs. She's a board member of the International Service for Human Rights and No Hiding Place. She serves as the Vice Chair on the Board of the Urgent Action Fund.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lara Setrakian</span> American journalist, digital strategist and entrepreneur

Lara Setrakian is an Armenian American journalist, digital strategist and entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Executive Editor of News Deeply, a digital media company that builds single-topic platforms that provide journalistic reporting, expert analysis, dialogues and opportunities for knowledge exchange on the issues they cover. Prior to founding News Deeply, she worked for five years as a Middle East correspondent for ABC News, Bloomberg Television, the International Herald Tribune, Business Insider and Monocle magazine, covering several major news events in the region like Iran’s election protests and the Arab Spring of 2011. As a Middle East correspondent Setrakian covered uprisings, conflicts, politics and economics around the region. She was instrumental in Bloomberg Television’s live on-the-ground coverage of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Following the toppling of Tunisia's president Ben Ali during what became known as the Arab Spring, Setrakian arrived in Egypt before the January 25th protest and was reporting live from Tahrir Square when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down. While reporting on the rise of piracy off the horn of Africa, Lara was the first American to interview the new president of war-torn Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bassem Youssef</span> Egyptian television host and surgeon (born 1974)

Bassem Raafat Mohamed Youssef is an Egyptian comedian, television host, and surgeon. He is best-known in his media career for having hosted Al Bernameg, a satirical comedy show focused on Egyptian politics, from 2011 to 2014. Youssef's comedic style has led to him being dubbed "Egypt's Jon Stewart" after Stewart's satirical The Daily Show, which had itself inspired Youssef to pursue a career in television. In 2013, Youssef was named on Time 100. His current projects include The Democracy Handbook and Revolution For Dummies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aliaa Magda Elmahdy</span> Egyptian womens rights activist

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy is an Egyptian internet activist and women's rights advocate. She became known for publishing a nude photo on her Blogspot page, which she described on Facebook as "screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy". Since then she became a subject of several death threats. Elmahdy describes herself as a "secular, liberal, feminist, vegetarian, individualist Egyptian" and has identified as an atheist since turning 16.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisa Sednaoui</span> French-Italian-Egyptian actress and model

Elisa Sednaoui is a model, actress, film director, philanthropist, social entrepreneur and best-selling author of Syrian, Italian, Egyptian, and French descent. She has appeared in such films as Eastern Drift, La Baie du renard, Bus Palladium, Les Gamins, and Remember Now, as well as in fashion campaigns for Chanel Eyewear, Giorgio Armani, Missoni, Roberto Cavalli, Lancôme and Buccellati. In 2013, she created the Elisa Sednaoui Foundation, dedicated to promoting creative learning, after-school initiatives for youngsters. The organization has expanded and exists today both as a social enterprise and a Nonprofit. Funtasia Impact, a UK Nonprofit organization, is active in Italy since 2016 through the entity Funtasia Italia and in the United States, Funtasia Impact USA is a registered 501c3 founded in 2020. Sednaoui also founded and directs Funtasia Enterprise, a USA Benefit corporation, focusing on for profit educational products for parents and teachers and consultancies for schools and museums. In May 2022, Sednaoui released her first book, co-written with Linguistic Intelligence expert Paolo Borzacchiello, which became an instant best-seller in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hend Kheera</span> Egyptian street artist (born 1981)

Hend Kheera is an Egyptian street artist whose work features a mix of stencils and slogans. She is one of the leaders of Egypt's street-art boom since the 2011 uprising. Kheera has been an active participant in anti-sexual harassment campaign in Egypt in response to Mass sexual assault in Egypt

Operation Anti Sexual Harassment, is an activist group in Cairo, Egypt, whose goal is to prevent sexual harassment and assault, and in particular the mass sexual assaults that occur during protests and religious festivals. The group is known for intervening in assaults by mobs in Cairo's Tahrir Square and is one of several that have begun to organize against sexual harassment of women in Tahrir since the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in the Arab Spring</span>

Women played a variety of roles in the Arab Spring, but its impact on women and their rights is unclear. The Arab Spring was a series of demonstrations, protests, and civil wars against authoritarian regimes that started in Tunisia and spread to much of the Arab world. The leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen were overthrown; Bahrain has experienced sustained civil disorder, and the protests in Syria have become a civil war. Other Arab countries experienced protests as well.

Rape in Egypt is a criminal offense with penalties ranging from 15 to 25 years and a lifetime sentence if the rape included abduction. Marital rape is legal. By 2008, the U.N. quoted Egypt's Interior Ministry's figure that 20,000 rapes take place every year, although according to the activist Engy Ghozlan (ECWR), rapes are 10 times higher than the stats given by Interior Ministry, making it 200,000 per year. Mona Eltahawy has also noted the same figure (200,000), and added that this was before the revolution.

Traditional gender roles in Egypt are prevalent and clearly defined. These roles are largely associated with traditional Islamic family structures, wherein women's roles are closely tied to the domestic sphere and men's roles tied to the public sphere. Gender roles are based on assumed biological differences between the sexes and can lead to dramatically different life experiences as well as opportunities and outcomes for individuals. Consequently, when looking at a number of indicators, women often find themselves disadvantaged relative to men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian Streets</span> English Egyptian news organization

Egyptian Streets is an English language independent news website and organization founded in July 2012 by Egyptian journalist Mohamed Khairat as a blog, but later developed into a media company in March 2014. It claims to be the number one English media outlet in Egypt by reach. In February 2015, more than 800,000 visited the website.

<i>The Girl in the Blue Bra</i> Photograph of an abused Egyptian woman.

The Girl in the Blue Bra is the name given to an image of an Egyptian woman who participated in the Tahrir Square protests in opposition to Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the military coup that ousted Hosni Mubarak during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution in opposition to Mubarak's presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass sexual assault in Egypt</span> Sexual assault of many women in Egypt

The mass sexual assault of women in public has been documented in Egypt since 2005, when Egyptian security forces and their agents were accused of using it as a weapon against female protesters during a political demonstration in Tahrir Square, Cairo on 25 May. The behavior spread, and by 2012 sexual assault by crowds of young men was seen at protests and festivals in Egypt.

Engy Ayman Ghozlan is a social activist and journalist who highlights problems of sexual harassment of women in the streets of Egypt. Starting in 2005, she was a project manager at the NGO known as the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR) and actively pursued efforts to make Egypt safe for women. She is known as the "voice and face" of efforts to eradicate sexual harassment of women in Egypt.

Mozn Hassan is an Egyptian women's rights campaigner. The founder of Nazra for Feminist Studies, she took part in the protests of the Egyptian revolution of 2011 and worked to help those who were sexually assaulted at the time. Since then she successfully campaigned for changes to be made to the Constitution of Egypt and sexual crime laws to safeguard women. Hassan was awarded the Global Fund for Women’s inaugural Charlotte Bunch Human Rights Award in 2013. She also received the Right Livelihood Awards, known as the "alternative Nobel Peace Prize", in 2016. She is currently subject to a travel ban and asset freeze by the Egyptian government for allegedly violating foreign funding laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadeen Ashraf</span> Egyptian feminist activist

Nadeen Ashraf is an Egyptian feminist activist. Her use of social media instigated the #MeToo movement within Egypt. She is part of the BBC's 100 Women of 2020 list.

References

  1. ↑ "Soraya Bahgat-Speakers-Oslo Freedom Forum". oslofreedomforum.com.
  2. ↑ "Soraya Bahgat Finland Global Profile". global.finland.fi.
  3. ↑ "Egypt Bodyguards Take Stand Against Sex Assault". news.yahoo.com.
  4. ↑ Soraya Bahgat kantaa vastuuta Egyptistä (in Finnish) Global.finland
  5. ↑ "Egypt Bodyguards Take Stand Against Sex Assault". news.yahoo.com.
  6. ↑ "Gruesome Attacks on Egyptian Women Spawn Helmeted Volunteers". theatlantic.com.
  7. ↑ "Tahrir's bodyguards fight to 'cure Egypt's disease'". cnn.com.
  8. ↑ "Tahrir's bodyguards fight to 'cure Egypt's disease'". cnn.com.
  9. ↑ "Grassroots Group Fights Back Against Sexual Assaults in Tahrir Square". jezebel.com.
  10. ↑ "Attention Men: If You Attack a Woman In Tahrir Square, You Might Get Your Ass Kicked, Finally". gawker.com.
  11. ↑ "Egypt Bodyguards Take Stand Against Sex Assault". huffingtonpost.com.
  12. ↑ "Tahrir Bodyguard launches free self-defense training for women". egyptindependent.com.
  13. ↑ "The Girl Generation SAG Member Soraya Bahgat supporting Goal5". facebook.com.
  14. ↑ "Elisa Sednaoui Foundation's Friends and Collaborators". elisasednaoui.org.
  15. ↑ "Elisa Sednaoui's Egypt foundation". vogue.com.
  16. 1 2 3 "Femmes d'avenir en Méditerranée". sciencespo.fr.
  17. ↑ "Sexual harassment an Egyptian disease". france24.xom.
  18. ↑ "Episode 17 of season 2 of Al Bernameg". youtube.com.
  19. ↑ "Soraya Bahgat-Speakers-Oslo Freedom Forum". oslofreedomforum.com.
  20. ↑ "Egyptian Activist addresses the Oslo Freedom Forum". dailynewsegypt.com.
  21. ↑ "Women Under Threat Panel at the Oslo Freedom Forum". oslofreedomforum.com.
  22. ↑ "Soraya Bahgat halt an die Ziele der Arabellion fest". bundestag.de.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.