Nazra for Feminist Studies

Following a month of training on field research methods in the framework of urban violence and security, Nazra’s Societal Violence and Alternative Security research team has been divided into three groups, each group examining local conceptions and forms of urban violence and alternative security practices in a distinct area in Greater Cairo.

Group I – Ma’adi:

Summary: This program works to identify and establish dialogue with alternative urban-community practices of violence reduction, human-security promotion, and societal safety that have emerged in Egypt since the transformative events of 2011.  We aim to support communities as they articulate the novelty of the new practices and concepts. And we will build on these alternatives to shape new policy tools and public participatory mechanisms that will have national, even international, impact.

Naza for Feminist Studies today released a brochure to present short profiles about 16 female candidates for the People’s Assembly elections 2011/2012 that Nazra for Feminist Studies worked with through the Women Political Participation Academy that Nazra launched in October 2012

The profile if each candidate in the brochure include the name, age, job, type of candidacy, political history and the election result. You can read the brochure by clicking here.

Nazra for Feminist Studies issued today a report on the violations committed against women human rights defenders in Egypt in the period from August to December 2011.

On 16 June 2012, dozens of young women in Khartoum University’s dorms started chanting loudly, "No to High prices". As a result of the government’s austerity measures, the costs of meals and transportation became unbearable for female students. "The police cracked down on the dorms, fired tear gas, and beat us with batons", said M.H., a female student studying political science in Khartoum University. The demonstrations led by these young women inspired ongoing protests in Universities, which seek to mobilize residents of many Sudanese cities.

Executive Summary- The Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRD) program is issuing a series of concept papers that aim to introduce the notion of WHRDs: who they are, what they do, and why they should be considered as a distinct group of human rights defenders. The categories of WHRDs analyzed in the concept papers include: vocational women (doctors, nurses, and teachers); students; political candidates; civil society activists; protesters; and workers (industrial and agrarian sectors).

On 19 June 2012, due to their deteriorating health, women human rights defenders Basma Al-Keumy, lawyer, and Basma Al-Rajehy, writer and TV broadcaster, ended their hunger strike aimed at their administrative detention which continued until 24 June 2012 and the lack of access to their families and lawyers.

Both women were arrested on 11 June 2012 along with approximately 20 other protestors when security forces and anti-riot police broke up a three-day protest held in front of the

On Tuesday, June 26, the First Circuit Administrative Court – Individual Disputes, headed by Counselor Ali Fekry, issued a decision to revoke Decree No. 4991/2012 of the Minister of Justice that granted military intelligence and military police judicial powers to arrest civilians.

Today, 13 June, 2012, is the day to tweet and blog against sexual harassment in Egypt. On this occasion, Nazra for Feminist Studies is publishing three testimonies of women who were sexually assaulted by a mob on Mohammed Mahmoud Street on Saturday, 2 June.

The undersigned organizations express their appreciation for the efforts put forth by the Human Rights Committee of the People’s Assembly to develop a new bill, put forward by the Freedom and Justice Party, to regulate non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society institutions.