Several prominent figures from the arts and media in Egypt have expressed their solidarity with a burn victim who faced inappropriate remarks from an individual commenting on her appearance in a commercial promoting a hospital that collects donations for burn victims. Heba El-Sweedy, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of "Ahl Masr" Foundation, the organization behind the ad, stated that she would file a complaint with the public prosecutor against the person who made the offensive comment, which represented bullying against the ad's heroine, Manal Hosny. She emphasized that she would not waive her rights or those of all burn survivors.
In support of her, several celebrities, including artist Hani Ramzy and TV hosts Sherif Madkour and Khaled Abu Bakar, changed their Facebook profile pictures to a photo of Manal.
Manal Hosny, who appeared in the ad, has a tragic story dating back 16 years, when she suffered from a fire that claimed the lives of three family members, including her mother. Manal has undergone 23 cosmetic surgeries to treat injuries on her hands and face.
Regarding the classification of the offensive comment as bullying, attorney Mohamed Mahfouz explained to "Sky News Arabia" that "bullying is an offense outlined in Article 309 Bis of the Penal Code, which describes bullying as any speech, display of power, or exploitation of the victim's vulnerabilities, or a situation that the perpetrator believes could demean the victim, such as gender, race, religion, physical attributes, health, or mental status, or putting them in a position of mockery or undermining them or excluding them from their social environment."
According to Mahfouz, "The accused bully faces imprisonment for no less than six months and a fine of no less than 10,000 Egyptian pounds and no more than 30,000, or one of the penalties, without prejudice to any more severe punishment stipulated in another law." He added, "The penalty is increased if there are aggravating circumstances, such as the occurrence of a crime, or if the perpetrator has power over the victim; if both circumstances are present, the minimum sentence is doubled."
He pointed out that Article 50 Bis of the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities issued under Law No. 10 of 2018 has intensified the penalty to a minimum of two years imprisonment and a fine of no less than 100,000 pounds and no more than 200,000, or one of these penalties, if any of two conditions are met: first, the crime is committed by two or more individuals.
The penalty for "bullying" was previously established in Egyptian law in 2020 through a campaign launched by the government in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), funded by the European Union, titled "I Stand Against Bullying."
