Egyptian Women’s Testimonios: Resisting Violence/Seeking Justice

Manal Hamzeh from the University of New Mexico, Las Cruces will present “Egyptian Women’s Testimonios:  Resisting Violence/Seeking Justice”

While Egyptian women were/are major shapers of the Jan 25th Revolution, this talk will explore how their embodied experiences were/are both central sites of violence and revolutionary resistance in the post-Mubarak militarist and Islamist regimes. In this talk, I will address televised testimonios of four Egyptian women who experienced assault at four epic moments after the Jan 25th Revolution. These testimonios illustrate the more visceral role of Egyptian women resisting the counter revolutionary forces and opening spaces for freedom and justice in Egypt.” I will discuss the women’s testimonios as pedagogical and activist approaches to resisting repression and seeking justice (Bernal, Burciaga, & Carmona 2012). With their testimonios, these women not only transgress the consequences of violence by exposing the regimes’ crimes but they also teach us new ways of healing and resilience that they create and sustain in this time of intense change, as the revolution is still unfolding.

Co-hosts:  CTL, Equity Studies, WSGI, Anthropology and Adult Education.