The American University in Cairo Press has released It’s Not Your Fault, a collection of original short plays that address the issue of sexual harassment and assault in Egypt.
A group of Egyptian AUC students and alumni wrote the five 10-minute plays in a project that started in 2020 and is led by theatre professors Jillian Campana and Dina Amin.
Campana also serves as the university’s associate dean of the school of humanities and social sciences, and Amin is the director of the theatre programme.
“Theatre is an incredible medium to discuss this topic of sexual harassment and assault,” Campana said, at the book launch event at AUC on Monday evening.
“It always comes down to: what are you going to do about it? So this was our attempt to do something and to involve a group of young people in that particular process.”
A 2013 UN survey found that 99 per cent of women in Egypt had been sexually harassed, a statistic that is cited in all five of the plays.
Ninety-nine per cent of women experience sexual harassment on the streets, at home, in the workplace, and somebody needed to talk about it
Dina Amin,
director of the AUC theatre programme
“Ninety-nine per cent of women experience sexual harassment on the streets, at home, in the workplace, and somebody needed to talk about it,” Amin said.
In the book foreword, written by women’s rights activist Hoda Elsadda, a professor of English and comparative literature at Cairo University, she marks the January 2011 uprising as a turning point in bringing the topic of sexual violence against women to the forefront.
High-profile incidents included horrific sexual assaults against South African CBS TV reporter Lara Logan, musician Yasmine El Baramawy and others.
Groups such as Shoft Taharush (I Witnessed Harassment), Tahrir Bodyguards, HarassMap and Operation Anti-Harassment exposed incidents of harassment and formed intervention teams to rescue women during protests.
In 2014, the Egyptian penal code was amended to define and criminalise sexual harassment for the first time.
However, the impetus for It’s Not Your Fault (or Mish Zambik in Arabic) came years later, stemming from what became known as Egypt’s MeToo movement in the summer of 2020.
The project began in July 2020, when former AUC student Ahmed Bassam Zaki made international news after being accused of sexual crimes by more than 50 women.
Assault Police, an Instagram account founded by then-AUC student Nadeen Ashraf, had helped uncover several incidents of assault and harassment by Zaki and others.
Among the crimes exposed by the account was a gang rape that had occurred in 2014, when a young woman was drugged and assaulted by a group of wealthy young men at the luxury Fairmont Hotel.
“In the summer of 2020, when the recent stories gained media attention and the cases became more openly discussed in Egypt, we felt for the first time that it would be possible to explore the topic theatrically and publicly,” Campana and Amin write, in the book.
After discussions with a group of AUC theatre students and alumni interested in social justice, they decided the project would focus on five sub-issues: post-traumatic stress disorder, family and patriarchal attitudes towards assault, the consequences of reporting abuse, domestic abuse and consent.
Campana and Amin put out a call to students and alumni to create proposals for 10-minute plays dealing with one of the identified sub-issues.
The playwrights — Yehia Abdelghan, Marwan Abdelmoneim, Nour El Captan, Passant Faheem, Nour Ibrahim, Noran Morsi and Omar Omar — include two men and five women in their twenties who come from varying socio-economic backgrounds.
The five plays
Forget Him (Insih) tells the story of a sexual assault survivor who is haunted by visions of her perpetrator years later.
See Me (His Biya) shows the disconnect between generational views of sexual harassment and assault during a family dinner.
The Report (Al Taqrir) unpacks the reasons many women are afraid to come forward and report sexual crimes.
What Do You Know? (Ish Fahimik?) shows how two women from different social classes find it difficult to escape an abusive relationship.
Finally, When We Met (Lamma It’abilna) zeroes in on how partners can view sexual encounters very differently and highlights the call for consensual intimacy regardless of the stage of the relationship.
Much of the dialogue is written in a hybrid form of Arabic-English, reflecting the way many young, privileged Egyptians speak.
The directors, which included the professors, two students and one alumnus, cast the plays in December 2020.
Covid challenges
Covid-19 restrictions presented additional challenges, as the participants had to conduct rehearsals over Zoom when the university elected to hold classes online for the first part of the 2021 spring semester.
The plays were performed at the university’s New Cairo campus in March 2021 in a socially distanced way, outdoors and with small audience groups of between 10 to 20 people. Each group watched a play at a time and then walked to the next one.
This opportunistically led to discussions and reflections among audience members in between the play viewings, Campana and Amin said.
The production then moved to the downtown Tahrir campus, but after two participants tested positive for Covid-19, live performances were cancelled and the recorded version was streamed on YouTube instead.
Goals and messages
During this time, AUC also launched the SpeakUp campaign, aimed at making the university’s learning and work environment safe and free from all forms of harassment and discrimination.
One of the SpeakUp dialogue events included a live-streamed performance and discussion of the plays.
Actress Nadia Ahmed said at the event that the project’s title “is not just a name, but a message: it’s not your fault that this happened”.
In a post-production survey, the 60 project participants said the issues of sexual harassment and assault are very pertinent in Egypt today. They felt the plays helped in understanding others’ perspectives and provided a safe space to talk about the problem.
Campana and Amin are now working on a series of four videos that will address key issues, such as defining sexual harassment, assault and consent. These will then serve as anti-sexual harassment training for AUC students, faculty and staff.
“It’s an ongoing issue. Even though it’s quieted down at AUC recently, it doesn’t mean that the issue has quieted down,” Campana said.
The pair hope the plays will be performed widely in both Arabic and English-speaking communities, offering them royalty-free as long as the plays and authors are referenced in programmes and promotional materials.
AUC Press will also be releasing an Arabic edition of It’s Not Your Fault in July.
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Sam Smith
Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi
When: Saturday November 24
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
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Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.
Where to stay
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
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What are the regulations?
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'Dark Waters'
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, William Jackson Harper
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Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
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Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
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Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
