Egyptian women's rights activist Hania Moheeb: 'Sisi owes a lot to women'

June 11, 2014 03:47

Today, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered his interior minister to fight sexual harassment after several women were attacked during his inauguration celebrations. But will el-Sisi's sentiment make a difference?

"Definitely", says Hania Moheeb a prominent activist for Women's rights in Egypt and who is herself a victim of sexual harassment. "President Sisi owes a lot to Egyptian women who lined up to vote for him."

"I was happy that he spoke about the issue...I think that if he has the will and declared that he has the will then something will happen." According to the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, over 99% of women in Egypt will suffer some form of sexual harassment at some point and it's an experience Hania Moheeb knows all too well. She was just one of the thousands of Egyptians who took to Tahrir Square in Cairo last year, to commemorate the second anniversary of the January 25th revolution. But something happened that catapulted her into activism; she was sexually assaulted.

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