In 2012, the Women Human Rights Defenders programme at Nazra for Feminist Studies produced this manual, especially tailored to the Egyptian context (it is written in Arabic), on Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs). Sections include legislative and military verdicts used to constrain public action; the unique violations committed against WHRDs and why this needs attention; regional and international mechanisms available to WHRDs to report violations; and security tips of use in dangerous circumstances.
The manual takes note of the history of both state and military violations against WHRDs, extending beyond the recent rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) back through the Mubarak regimes rule. The state of emergency imposed by the SCAF at the time of this manuals production militarised Egypt’s transitional period and was used to legitimise violations against WHRDs. Rather than representing a complete list of violations, the manual instead emphasises a tendancy of targeting WHRDs by Egyptian authorities.As well as patriarchal cultural norms, the manual highlights legislative constraints on the presence of WHRDs in the public sphere, such as the criminalisation of some sit-ins under threat of imprisonment and fines which effectively bans protest.
Also discussed are tools of protection, such as the availability of a hotline enabling receipt of swift legal, psychological or relocation support, as well as documentation of violations. Also explained are the regional and international mechanisms that can be used to expose violations, namely the UN system and African Union. Finally, the manual presents a list of state actions that may be used against WHRDs, such as arrest and detention, and tactics that can be used by individuals in response. These tactics include inquiring about the legal basis for detention, insisting on the presence of a lawyer during investigations, keeping the telephone number of a lawyer with you in perilous circumstances, and ensuring mobile phone batteries are fully charged.