Yesterday, Screenwriter Medhat El Adl took part in the No to Violence against Women and Girls seminar at the Supreme Council for Culture, held within the events of the 39th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), in collaboration with UN Women.

In his speech, El Adl affirmed that sexual harassment is an issue that is prevalent all over the world. However, we do not enforce laws that are strict enough to curtail young men from causing such harm. He also stressed that the young man who prays at the mosque is the same who sexually harasses women. El Adl denounced what some clerics preach in villages and in the media that breaches the rights of women and young girls, causing huge misunderstandings.

The seminar was attended by Dr. Magda Wassef, President of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF); Dr. Rania Yehia, representative of the Human Rights Council in Egypt; Olfat Salamy, Media Consultant and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Social Solidarity; Australian Ambassador Neil Hawkins; MP Alaa Abed, Head of the Human Rights Committee in the Egyptian Parliament; in addition to superstars Yousra and Elham Shahin; film critic Youssef Sherif Rizkalla; screenwriters Atef Beshay and Mariam Naoum; and film critic Ahmed Shawky.

Medhat El Adl is a renowned writer, poet, author, screenwriter and Egyptian doctor. He is one of the most important screenwriters of films and TV series in the past 20 years. His filmography includes a number of important films that became some of the 1990s classics such as Esharet Moror (Traffic Light), America Chika Bika and Harb Al Farawla (Strawberry War), in addition to Ice Cream in Gleam. Medhat wrote many films that made huge commercial success such as Sa'eedi Fil Gamaa el Amrekeia (Sa'eedi in the American University), which is considered as one of the most successful Egyptian films to date, as well as Hammam in Amsterdam and Mafia. For TV, El Adl wrote numerous successful TV dramas such as; Mahmoud Al Masri, Al Andaleeb (The Nightingale), Haret El Yahoud (Jewish Quarter) and Le A'la Se'er (To the Highest Bidder), which was aired in Ramadan 2017.