Egypt

Ikhtyar (Arabic for choice) is an invitation to an open space for people interested in discussing gender issues, and in documenting/developing a gender knowledge base in Arabic. GenderIT showcases their recent research on online harassment and violence, the specific forms it takes in the region and language and their reflections on the research process.

Here are insights into research on online gender-based violence against women and other minorities - especially around sexual objectification, delegitimisation of public personas, non-conformity to gender stereotypes and idealised notions of womanhood. Elena Pavan shares also about doing research using data scraped from online public discourses and the key questions going forward.

The annual Forum on Internet Freedom, Africa brings together people from across the African continent to to deliberate on gaps, concerns and opportunities for advancing privacy, access to information, free expression, non-discrimination and the free flow of information online on the continent. But what about gender perspectives? 

The emerging sub-field of research around gender and digital technology is united in its understanding that gender biases and stereotypes are embedded in technology, and that this reproduces the existing problems around gender parity, gender-based violence, discrimination and exclusion on the internet. This report is a mapping of the research around gender and digital technology in the decade…

This personal essay by Lara Mansour narrates the experience of being gay in a conservative country like Egypt, and the anxieties of first-ever digital sexual encounter.

In this piece, the author investigates how they witnessed alternative porn that in its core is feminist, queer and diverse on the internet.

Online violence and harassment mirrors the realities of persecution in the "real world" and extends the avenues for prejudice and discrimination. In Egypt, outspoken activists and Nubian people supporting the cause of Nubians to their own land and also speaking out about race and skin colour-based prejudice face virulent online attacks and are also banned by the Egyptian government.

Ghadeer Ahmed created Girl's Revolution on Twitter and Facebook a year after the revolution on Jan 25 2011 in Egypt. In this interview with Yara Sallam she traces the difficult and rewarding journey of talking about women's rights, body, sexuality, violence and harassment and sharing this with many other women and girls online.

This interview is part of a longer one that conducted in…