Three major events that took place recently shed a light on the position of women in Egypt. Though they might seem like disconnected incidents, they help complete a picture. The first is the case of Ahmed Bassam Zaki, the son of an elite family, accused of sexual assault with over a hundred stories supporting these accusations and attesting to his behavior. His accusers are from the American University in Cairo (AUC) and the American International School (AIS).
However, the recent measures taken by Egypt’s public prosecutor in the case of Zaki should not be celebrated too soon as a triumph for women’s rights but rather they might be simply a public relations tactic at a time when women are facing growing levels of violence.
The second event is the wave of arrests that have been happening since April 2020 with at least nine women to date. The women were active on social media platform Tik Tok and were arrested on charges of ‘violating society’s moral norms’.
