Egyptians have launched many campaigns in recent years to combat the sexual harassment that continues to plague Egyptian society. Some of these campaigns implore victims to speak up and report the incident, while other initiatives condemn the harassers. A recent awareness campaign launched by a team of three Egyptian women has adopted a new approach to fighting this social epidemic: bystander intervention.

With the help of a director, the women released a daring photo campaign titled "Your Silence Is Harassment," blowing the lid off the passive role of bystanders who do not intervene when a woman is sexually assaulted. The alluring sequence of photos depicts the daily struggle of Egyptian women on city streets, public transportation, markets and the workplace, blaming idle bystanders in the hope of stirring a sense of collective responsibility.

The project displays staged scenes of sexual harassment, as a silent bystander stands in the background, his mouth sealed by black tape. The victims featured in the photos include a woman wearing a headscarf and an unveiled girl to refute the claim that it's clothing that provokes sexual harassment. Through an interview with the campaign's founders, Al-Monitor was able to find out the details of this bold photo session that went viral within a few hours.

One of the brains behind the campaign, actress Nourhan Mohamed, is a graduate of the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts. In collaboration with her colleagues, she decided to use acting as a way to combat social problems, with a special focus on women-related issues. "This is not our first campaign," she said. "Last year, we released a photo session that dealt with violence against women. Actually, this session was inspired by the story of our colleague who suffered from such violence. We were surprised that the campaign gained widespread admiration. This success prompted us to launch another campaign. After agreeing on the campaign's theme, namely sexual harassment, we started to think about the segment that should be addressed. Fully aware of the key role of bystanders in preventing sexual abuse, we decided to launch the recent campaign."