Lina Geoushy: “I wanted our voices to be heard, but also made visible”

In Shame Less, Geoushy creates space for participants to voice their experiences of sexual assualt, challenging the pervasiveness of gender-based violence in her home country of Egypt and beyond

In December 2020, Egyptian photographer Lina Geoushy embarked on a project titled Shame Less, delving into the web of factors and settings connected to sexual violence in Egypt. She was responding, in part, to the emergence of an Egyptian #MeToo moment earlier that year, which had gained momentum across social media. Countless women shared stories of sexual assault, amplifying the pervasiveness of gender-based violence in the country and establishing a space where individuals could voice their experiences and concerns.

Geoushy splits her time between Egypt’s capital Cairo and London, recently graduating from London College of Communication with an MA in photojournalism and documentary photography. The photographer is no stranger to sexual assault, having experienced it throughout her life, on the streets, at home and at work. “Sexual violence and gender-based violence are universal,” says Geoushy, referencing a 2021 report published by the World Health Organisation. The report found that during their lifetime, one in three women, around 736 million, are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner.

Honing in on Egypt, where a 2013 United Nations study revealed that 99.3 per cent of the Egyptian women surveyed reported experiencing sexual harassment, the photographer attributes its intensity to “a culture of impunity”. Individuals are reluctant to speak out about assault, let alone report it, due to an unwillingness by police, institutions, and even friends and families to take appropriate action.

Shame Less, in contrast, creates space for its participants to be heard, spotlighting Geoushy’s experiences and those of others. It is as much a show of solidarity with other women as an investigation of gender-based violence’s prevalence across the world. The ongoing series comprises portraits of women in places where they feel safe – terraces, living rooms, gardens – embellished with text articulating their experiences of assault and reflections on it. “I wanted our voices to be heard, but also made visible,” says Geoushy

Almost a microcosm of the #MeToo community that developed on social media, the photographs provide a forum where their subjects can speak out with the support of others. Gold brushstrokes embellish several participants’ eyes: “Gold has been a potent symbol of authority, and power or prosperity, and here I’m using it as an intervention to protect identities. It’s a form of protection not censorship,” says Geoushy. While this chapter of the project centres on women’s experiences, future iterations will delve into other aspects, including sexual violence from a male perspective, and if and how men can be allies.

Ultimately, it is the “matrix surrounding violence against women,” as Geoushy articulates it, which Shame Less endeavours to take on, confronting the complexities and deep-rootedness of gender-based violence in Egypt and beyond.

Shame Less by Lina Geoushy is one of the winning series of Female in Focus 2022.