Skip to main content

Egyptian women urged to 'put on your dress'

An Egyptian activist has called for women to fight sexual harassment on Egypt's streets by ditching the hijab and dressing as they please.
dress.jpg

CAIRO, Egypt — Dina Anwar, an Egyptian pharmacist, is leading a campaign dubbed “Put on your dress and take back your femininity” to fight sexual harassment in the Egyptian street. She created a Facebook page in August calling on Egyptian women and girls to go back to wearing dresses and showing their femininity.

The dress was ubiquitous in Egypt during late President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s era in the 1960s, before the radical Islamic expansion of the 1970s and the emergence of Gamaa Islamiya in 1979.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.