Latest posts by Marwa Rakha from April, 2009
Egypt: Plans for Sexual Harassment Film Unveiled
After the success of Egypt's Anti-Harassment Day, Egyptian blogger Asser Yasser invited women to share their personal experiences with this issue. Women and young women will be filmed going about their everyday lives, registering the different forms of harassment they are subjected to. Marwa Rakha has the story.
Egypt: Stigmatized by AIDS
A group of Egyptian bloggers and independent media personalities are putting their hands together in support of the “Openness” initiative, which aims at anti-stigmatizing AIDS patients, and calls for integrating them in the society instead of alienating them further by educating people on how to deal with them to avoid getting infected, reports Marwa Rakha.
Egypt: Wandering Internet Trolls
Wandering Scarab posted an interesting note on the four types of Internet trolls: “creatures that wander into forums and blogs, with malicious intent to generally interrupt online discussions by flinging their excrement everywhere, and inciting others into responding emotionally.”
Egypt: Interviewing a Baha'i Assailant
Egyptian blogger Ibn Rushd interviewed one of the Baha'i assailants. Marwa Rakha translates the interview, in which the assailant admits to his role in the burning of six homes belonging to Baha'i families in the village of Shoraneya, from Arabic.
Egypt: Cleanliness Day on April 10
We have been paying close attention to the creative ways in which Egyptian bloggers and activists have been using online social networking to rally support for their causes and initiate social and political change. In this post, Marwa Rakha writes about a Facebook campaign by Mostafa Ahmed and more than 4,500 enthusiasts, who joined hands to mark Egypt's first Cleanliness Day on April 10.
Egypt: Should rapists be hanged on TV?
Between examining the profile of a sexual offender in Egypt and rallying against sexual predators, an Egyptian member of Parliament proposed a law that allows broadcasting the hanging of rapists live on television. Should rapists be hanged live on television?
Egypt: April 18 Declared Anti-Harassment Day
A Facebook campaign calling for a silent demonstration on April 18 against the harassment of women and girls in Egypt is slowly gathering momentum. The call for allowing Egyptian women to move around in safety in their country, was sparked after blogger Asser Yasser's harassers were acquitted. Marwa Rakha reports on the campaign in this post.
Egypt: Baha'is attacks spark outcry
On April 2, several human rights organizations headed to the public prosecutor in solidarity with the Baha'is who were assaulted in Sohag after a journalist called them reverts and urged people to kill them. Marwa Rakha covers online initiatives and the outcry which followed.
Egyptian Baha'is under attack
Earlier in March, Marwa Rakha wrote a post congratulating Baha'is in Egypt when the Supreme Administrative Court removed any grounds for preventing them from receiving proper official identity documents. Today she reports that after a television appearance featuring Baha'is, Baha'i houses were burnt down in Upper Egypt's governorate - Sohag.
Egypt's First Adult Graphic Novel on Trial
In April 2008, freedom of speech and creativity in Egypt was hit in its core with the confiscation of Magdy El Shafee's adult graphic novel - Metro. Marwa Rakha sums up reactions from the blogosphere about the court case awaiting Shafee and the book's publisher Mohamed El Sharkawy.
