Egyptian actress to be trialed for 'racy' dress at film festival
Rania Youssef is facing a backlash from social media fans and the citizens of Egypt after she wore a dress described as 'revealing' to a film festival.
Hear what KZN had to say about this woman's dress in the podcast:
An Egyptian actress named Rania Youssef is set to face a trial on the 12th of January where she faces up to five years in prison if convicted over a 'revealing' dress she wore recently to the Cairo International Film Festival, that's according to Middle East Monitor.
Youssef is being charged with 'public obscenity' for the dress, and people have said that she "committed obscene public behaviour" by using the long black transparent dress which showed off her legs and thighs.
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The 45-year-old actress released a statement saying that she didn't wear the dress to offend anyone, and didn't know it would cause such controversy.
“It was the first time that I wore the dress. I want to repeat my commitment to the values and ethics we have been raised by in Egyptian society,” she said.
Take a look at the dress she wore below:
The internet is split by the choice of the authorities to have her put on trial. Some said that her dress is deemed 'inappropriate' by the Egyptian community, while others said that there are more urgent matters the government should be attending to and that she should have the right to wear what she wants.
This particular 'decency case' has come after a string of women were arrested for speaking out against sexual harassment. According to Independent, the most recent case took place in September which saw Amal Fathy, a female activist, given a two-year sentence over a video she posted to Facebook using profanities to describe an alleged harassment she experienced at a bank.
Amal Fathy, an Egyptian activist, posted a video on Facebook in which she described her day-to-day experiences of sexual harassment. The unwelcome advances by a bank employee, the physical abuse by a taxi driver, and other “ordinary” forms of sexual harassment in public spaces. pic.twitter.com/M9JOYYFkmy
— الدولية للحقوقيين (@ICJ_MENA) May 12, 2018
My thoughts are that if there is a law that prohibits offending the public and, more importantly, there are societal values that need to be respected, then perhaps she should have thought more carefully about her choice of dress.
In a perfect world, I would love it if people could speak out against what they believe in and wear what they feel comfortable in - without being judged or fear of persecution.
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After looking at the dress, what are your thoughts? Share your comments below.
Main image courtesy of AFP