(Noha and I at home on the farm in Voss. Photographer: Vidar Herre)
Noha el Ostaz was the first person to report sexual harassment to the police in Egypt's history. She has also fought in the streets during the Arab Spring and the revolution that has raged since 2011. She has experienced police brutality, been gassed in the streets, bled black menstrual blood from police gassing, and known the fear of being taken home by military police. The fight for justice has been costly. In Voss and in nature, she found her zest for life and energy again.
In Egypt, Noha became known for her bravery in 2008. It began on a typical June day, when Noha and another mutual friend of ours were walking through a neighborhood in Cairo. Suddenly, a man leaned out of the slow-moving car and grabbed her by the chest.
Noha el Ostaz was the first person to report sexual harassment to the police in Egypt's history. She has also fought in the streets during the Arab Spring and the revolution that has raged since 2011. She has experienced police brutality, been gassed in the streets, bled black menstrual blood from police gassing, and known the fear of being taken home by military police. The fight for justice has been costly. In Voss and in nature, she found her zest for life and energy again.
In Egypt, Noha became known for her bravery in 2008. It began on a typical June day, when Noha and another mutual friend of ours were walking through a neighborhood in Cairo. Suddenly, a man leaned out of the slow-moving car and grabbed her by the chest.
He held a firm grip as he drove forward, causing her to fall over. It was very violent and humiliating, and the man just laughed at her as she lay there on the ground. Then Noha became furious and decided that he was not going to let this happen.
Noha grabbed the man, and after much resistance from several people who intervened, she managed, with the help of several others, to drag him to a nearby local police station. The police tried to talk her out of reporting it, saying that it should be enough for him to say sorry, and if it was that bad, they could take him to the back room and harass him a little, so that they would be ashamed. Noha was shocked and angry, something so cruel to say. The police refused to do anything and would not drive him to the main police station. Noha's father came, and they took the man in the car to the main police station. He was reported under the new law on sexual harassment, and the case went to court, and the man was sentenced to prison. It was the first time in Egypt that someone had been sentenced to prison for sexual harassment. Noha paved the way and was featured in all the media as the first person to ever report someone for sexual harassment in a country where this happens all the time.
- I wanted to challenge the taboo that sexual harassment is. This is something that many people in Egypt are exposed to, but that women shouldn't talk about, because it's their own shame. But I couldn't accept it. After she broke ground, many women have come after her and stood up for themselves and reported harassing behavior.
I met this strong and tough woman in 2006 when I was advised to hire her to join me in my research interviews at the homes of ultra-poor women and families in various slums in Cairo. I was working on my PhD in history (and building Vossabia on the side), and Noha accompanied me as an interpreter for families I had access to, in neighborhoods that were completely outside the rest of society. They were the invisible ultra-poor, those who fell between all the chairs, where aid does not reach, those without ID cards, without public services and outside of normal working life. It is a type of poverty you cannot imagine, and Noha was shocked by how people could live in her own city. We quickly became close friends, and our friendship became especially deep after all the traumatic life stories and destinies we got to see, feel and hear about together.
I have traveled to Cairo a lot, and also took the kids to visit to show them what mom worked on, besides Vossabia, the farm, bees and flowers. They feel like Noha is part of the family, and she is.
In the picture, three girls at the library in Alexandria: Noha, Renate and Ylva. Photographer: Emil, then 6.5 years old.
Noha has a diverse educational background, with law first and then art and film being what she has worked most in. In recent years she has worked as a documentary filmmaker, and one of the first things she did was make a film about poverty in neighborhoods similar to the ones I had researched.
She also actively participated in demonstrations during the Egyptian revolution in 2011. These were brutal and tumultuous times, with many powerful forces at large.
All the strong and horrible experiences, in addition to encountering poverty and hardship through film work, drained Noha of energy and vitality. When she came to Norway in 2016, she had stress, heavy thoughts and heart medication in her luggage. And she was worried about being a burden.
After a month in Norway, much longer than planned, nature had a playful and healing effect on her. The heavy thoughts let go. She found herself again, she found joy again. As she said: “The nature here and the beauty in people’s hearts have brought me back to life. Because what are people looking for, here and in other places? It’s the same everywhere. We want comfort, peace of mind and good experiences.”
Noha has also been important for me in terms of getting in touch with Egyptian producers of natural body products. In Sinai I met the talented Hisham who runs Back to Nature, a great chain of stores that produces ointments and soaps like I do.
We have had good professional discussions, and exchanged experiences, and through him and Noha I have obtained fantastic jasmine oil from Egypt. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to obtain it for a while, but now Noha has obtained a new container from the manufacturer, so if I can just take a trip to Egypt, or meet her somewhere else, it will again be a wonderfully delicious Deodorant with Jasmine from Egypt, as well as Hair Serum with Jasmine, which many people are asking for. In the meantime, fortunately, there are many other good deodorants to use and enjoy, and there are now two new types of hair serum with Rosemary and Lemongrass, among others. But, well, Noha and I first worked together in the slums on important research work, and now in later times, when my historical research had to give way to Vossabia and end up in the drawer, she is on the team with Vossabia. I like that! So of course I have to have a piece of Egypt in the Vossabia products!