Sexual Violence and its Resistance in Post-revolutionary Egypt: at the intersection between authoritarianism and patriarchy.

• Author: Heijthuyzen, Martine
• Position: Gender and Development

Introduction

Different observers and commentators have perceived women's agency during the Egyptian revolution, as well as after the Eighteen days of the Revolution, as a result of presupposed feminist desires. However, such a paradigm isolates women's agency and resistance from the political context it was constituted by (el Said et al., 2015: 9). This article examines sexual violence as a complex contextual political technique having different claims on the subject, resulting in complex modalities of resistance that aim to oppose not only patriarchal structures but opposing authoritarian structures as well. Therefore, to get a profound understanding of the use of sexual violence and its resistance in post-revolutionary Egypt, this work includes the concept of political intersectionality as defined by Kimberle Crenshaw. Crenshaw distinguishes 'political intersectionality' from 'structural intersectionality', in which the former refers to how inequalities and their intersection are integral in understanding political strategies (Crenshaw, 1991). Although the concept of intersectionality initially is used to discuss inequalities and their intersections specific to social constructs such as gender, race, class and sexuality. This article uses the concept of political intersectionality to examine how inequalities and their intersection, as the result of patriarchal and authoritarian structures in post-revolutionary Egypt, are manifested in the events of sexual violence and its resistance. As the debate regarding sexual violence against women in this context was situated within two (sometimes) conflicting political agendas. That is, the agenda of those opposing authoritarianism and those whom remain silent on the atrocities regarding sexual violence out of fear for the 'reputation of the revolution' (El Nadeem, Nazra and New Woman Foundation, 2013: 47). In addition to international organizations and feminist collectives that aim to resist the patriarchal system by demanding more state security presence on the streets, without acknowledging the violence inherent therein (Grove, 2015: 360).

As mentioned by Crenshaw (1991) this need to split one's political energy between two sometimes composing groups, is an aspect of intersectional disempowerment that is seldom confronted. With the result that the parameters of the revolutionary strategies were not always inclusionary of the experience of Egyptian women. In some cases, such as the demonstrations during International Women's day on 8 March 2011, women protesting were harassed and accused of taking away attention from the main issues of the Revolution (Al Ali, 2012: 29). Whereas certain strategies regarding preventing sexual violence sometimes overlooked the complicity of the regime. For example, UN-recognized feminist campaigns in Egypt that reject class-conscious movements for social change and focused on cultural explanations for sexual violence. The solution suggested by such organizations often included an intensification of policing on the street. Resulting in "securitized and militarized appropriations of internationals gender and security interventions" (Amar, 2013: 204). As well as the Human Rights Watch report on sexual harassment in Egypt which failed to locate the role of the state itself in these attacks, while suggesting an increase of law enforcement to protect the victims (HRW report, 2013). In addition to the annual report of HarassMapp (2010-2012) which did on one hand acknowledge that in some cases sexual violence offences were committed by the Egyptian security forces. Yet, on the other hand criticized the same forces for lack of presence or lack of willingness to intervene (Grove, 2015: 352).

The most troubling consequence of such intersecting discourses is that one analysis often implicitly denies the validity of the other (Crenshaw, 1991: 1252). In the case of Egypt, this led to reproducing and reinforcing patriarchal discourses by revolutionary groups who excluded gender issues. In addition to certain feminist collectives and international organizations reproducing and reinforcing authoritarian discourses by overlooking the regime's complicitness. Despite this being problematic on its own, both sides undermined their own agenda in the long term, for as the (authoritarian) state works through and with patriarchy.

The first section of this article examines how the concept of the state is gendered and it is in the interest of post-colonial states to uphold patriarchal gender norms. Illustrating that gender issues are extremely politicized thus making it the perfect means of social control for regimes. This will be followed by an analysis on the use of sexual violence as systematic state policy in the 2011 Revolution and prior to it, concomitant with the authoritarian patriarchal logic the Egyptian regime has generated and exploited. Thirdly, forms of resistance that emerged in post-revolutionary Egypt will be exemplified, challenging and subverting the patriarchal gendered logic of the regime. Followed by the last section, where I will argue that integrating the concept of political intersectionality is necessity in feminist scholarship to avoid a one-dimensional analysis of events, that is at the risk of re-articulating oppressive (authoritarian) discourses.

State power and patriarchy

Different feminist scholars have underlined how and why state power works through and with patriarchy. According to Raewyn Connell (1990) the state is the central institutionalization of gendered power, referring to the idea that the state is the main organizer of gender relations through its scale and coherence. Thus the state defines, through its laws and administrative arrangements, the boundaries for what is legal and what is considered illegal (Connell, 1990: 520). As discussed by Nira Yuval-Davis (1980) it is in the interest of the state to uphold patriarchal gender norms. States are ideally in accordance with the 'nation', referring to the constructed collectivity that legitimizes political control over a certain territory. The idea of the nation, therefore needs to be constantly re-constructed and if not, it ceases to exist and with it the legitimization of political control. For women this has implications, as they become the so-called 'bearers of the nation' (Yuval-Davis, 1980). Referring to the idea that what comes out of the womb of the women of the nation, is the nation of future. Therefore, these (newborn) members need to be in line with what is perceived as the 'nation' otherwise they undermine its existence. Especially when being born into a nation is perceived as the only way to become a full member, the interest of the constructed collective is prioritized over women's (reproductive) rights (Yuval-Davis, 1997: 22). In addition to this, women are perceived to have a 'cultural role'. "Women are often constructed as the cultural symbols of the collectivity, of its boundaries, as carriers of its honour and its...