Egyptians tell stories of abuse, harassment on stage
The Egyptian version of The Vagina Monologues, BuSSy, has gathered over 1,000 stories since 2006 and brings women and men to theaters around the country to share their experiences on sexual harassment and abuse.
Despite financial difficulties, lack of staff and government support, the BuSSy (Look) art performance project has been encouraging Egyptian women and men to tell their experiences of gender-related issues, abuse and sexual harassment on stage. Storytelling workshops, performances and social activities have been organized across the country since the project started in 2006.
BuSSy seeks to resist social restraints through theater by giving people from different backgrounds and ages the opportunity to share their stories without fear of stereotyping or criticism. The project organizes storytelling workshops where participants are trained on how to tell their stories. Then they go on stage and do just that.
“The participants do not act. They are real people with real stories and all they do is tell their stories openly on stage,” Sondos Shabayek, BuSSy's project director, told Al-Monitor.
The topics that BuSSy has tackled so far vary from sexual harassment, rape, honor crimes, manhood to forced marriages, female genital mutilation, domestic violence and child abuse.
