From the streets to the campus: The institutionalization of youth anti-sexual harassment activism in post-coup Egypt

Abstract

Inspired by the possibility of creating new democratic futures following Egypt’s January 25th Revolution, young men and women organized against sexual harassment and assault in Tahrir Square and on the streets between 2012 and 2013. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s ascent to the Presidency in 2014 marked a turning point when the state’s clampdown on activism pushed youth-led initiatives out of public space. Educational institutions in general, and universities in particular, became one of the few spaces where youth activism against sexual violence continued under the military regime. This chapter examines one of the few remaining anti-sexual harassment initiatives that persisted until 2020 in Egypt’s authoritarian political climate, HarassMap, and its Safe Schools and Universities program, launched in 2013. Drawing on qualitative interviews with HarassMap members and other anti-sexual harassment activists in Cairo between 2013 and 2015 and again in 2019, we explore the civil society and political context that gave rise to the increasing institutionalization of anti-sexual harassment activism in Egypt. With a focus on Cairo University, we examine the formation of cross-gender, -class, -generational, and -sectoral alliances between activists, students, and faculty, and discuss the transformative potential of such initiatives amid the state’s attempt to co-opt anti-sexual harassment efforts.