Public Feminism, Female Shame, and Sexual Violence in Modern Egypt

Author: Jihan Zakarriya

In: Journal of International Women's Studies, Vol 20, No 7, 2019, pp. 113-128

This paper connects aspects of public sexual violence against women generally, and politicized sexual violence in 21st-century Egypt in particular, arguing that successive political regimes in Egypt have produced and maintained a spatial culture of humiliation and subordination as a political tool to silence and oppress women and prevent opposition. This paper assesses the successes and failures of public feminism in Egypt in addressing this culture of female humiliation and isolation in public spaces, with a particular focus on fighting politicized forms of sexual violence directed against women since 2011. It also argues that sexual violence against women, and the repression of public feminism in Egypt, are parts of the failure of the processes of democratic transition.