Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary sets out to learn whether the treatment of women has improved in Egypt since the Arab Spring uprising. The filmmakers do a good job of providing context and background, such as noting a 2008 poll that revealed 83% of Egyptian women had been sexually harassed, and 65% of men admitted to having committed it. Their quest takes them to all levels of Egyptian society, and even to Tunisia, where the same dynamic is at work—increased veiling and increasing bad behavior toward women.

The well-documented vignettes make a lasting impression-- the woman harassed on the subway whose tormenters stand by her during her fruitless complaint to the police, the prostitutes in Tunisia who lose everything in a night of violence ignored by the police station across the street. Some of the most startling scenes are the pictures of Egypt 50 years ago, where women dressed freely and men and women mingled happily. The film does not leave one with much hope, but it is to be commended for asking questions of the religious and political authorities in Egypt and Tunisia that they don't want to answer.

Scenes of nudity, violence, and female genital mutilation require that this be used with discretion in educational settings.