Discursive Strategies in Egyptian Women's Stories on Sexual Assaults: A Critical Discourse Analysis Approach

In their quest to combat sexual violence, women have utilized digital platforms to create safe spaces, challenge the ‘unspeakability’ of their experiences and call for justice in ways previously unavailable to them. Online stories on sexual violence posted by Egyptian female survivors emerge as a more visible and impactful form of discourse in post-revolutionary Egypt, catalyzing potential social change and leading to significant legal amendments in the country’s Penal Code regarding sexual crimes. In view of this, the present paper examines the linguistic construction of the ‘survivor’ identity in 75 online stories posted by women between 2020 and 2024. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), the study investigates the linguistic choices employed by the female survivors in their self-presentation and in the portrayal of their perpetrators. The analysis reveals a sharp contrast in the representation of the survivors vs. their aggressors, with the male abuser as the active agent, mostly represented in terms of his manipulativeness and ‘animalistic’ behavior. In contrast, the female survivor is portrayed as the weaker and more vulnerable participant, often pressured by the abuser, feelings of shame, self-blame, and entrenched socio-cultural norms. Yet, some narratives portray women as challenging, determined and sometimes aggressive, in response to their assault, echoing a shift in women’s understanding of gender roles and behaviors. The work contributes to the evolving field of digital feminism research and adds to the limited scholarship exploring sexual violence discourse in contemporary Egypt.