Cartoons for commuters
The bustling streets of Cairo are at first glance a polar opposite to rural Morocco. Yet the daily dilemmas faced by women in both areas are eerily familiar: the constant critique of clothing, the fear of leaving the house alone, the likelihood of being catcalled, even in groups.
In Cairo, Nihal Saad Zaghloul founded Bassma, The Imprint Movement, three years ago in an effort to rebuild the city as a safe space free of discrimination and violence. She was spurred into action after watching helplessly while her friend was sexually assaulted in the middle of Egypt’s Tahrir Square. This was something all too common in the iconic home of the 2011 uprisings.
The initiative’s most recent project uses cartoons to challenge commuters in Cairo’s busiest metro stations. Artist Ahmed Nady’s scenes depict the everyday moments of sexual harassment against Egyptian women. The cartoons force people to see and consider what these seemingly small acts actually mean.
The storytelling power of drawing is used to make people stop and think rather than shrug off a tagline or statistic. The colourful panels are intended to make people in the heart of their commute – one of the most likely times for harassment and assault – see how their behaviour impedes women’s right to do something as simple as shopping for food.
The comic campaign asks commuters a question: “What Will You Do?”. This is a direct call to action.
Locally initiated and informed projects such as these are vital to the prevention of violence against women through sustained education, empowerment and security.
These local efforts are supported by global initiatives like the UN’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, which calls for #16days of attention to violence against women. During this period scholars, activists, policymakers, and communities will work toward a world free from violence against women.
As Bassma says:
Sexual harassment doesn’t harm her alone, it harms us all.
Violence against women is everybody’s problem. It will take everybody to solve it. Together, local projects and global attention can make violence against women a thing of the past.
Article Appeared @https://theconversation.com/north-africa-small-glimmers-of-light-in-bid-to-stop-violence-against-women-50997