Sarah Hegazi was an intersectional Egyptian queer feminist and human rights defender. While living in exile in Canada apart from her family, her loved ones, her country, and her community, Sarah took her life on June 13, 2020, at the age of 30 years old.

As the space for organizing and expression across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) narrows, more and more advocates are similarly finding themselves in voluntary or forced exile. They search for opportunities to continue their activism, advocacy, and scholarship from abroad, but they find it difficult to do so in the face of numerous stressors, from gaining legal status, to securing employment, and accessing mental and physical health support. Named in her honor, the Sarah Hegazi Fellowship will be awarded to an advocate from the MENA region who is living in exile. It will allow them to continue their critical work from abroad while housed at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP).

In February 2023, TIMEP announced the Sarah Hegazi Nonresident Fellowship after securing funding to welcome the first incoming fellow in May 2023. Your support to this campaign is critical to ensuring that Sarah Hegazi’s memory lives on and that this fellowship will continue next year and in the years to come.

You can read more about TIMEP’s nonresident fellowship program here.

About Sarah Hegazi

Sarah Hegazi was a member of the democratic socialist Bread and Freedom Party and a vocal advocate on key issues, including the release of political detainees and against the application of the death penalty. She was an outspoken and strong ally of movements for freedom across the MENA region, including in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Sudan.

In September 2017, Sarah attended a Mashrou’ Leila concert in Cairo during which she raised the rainbow flag. In the days and weeks to follow, Egyptian authorities led a widespread campaign against the country’s LGBTQI+ community, rounding up more than 70 people; as part of this campaign, they arrested Sarah. In custody, Sarah was subject to torture and mistreatment; police officers incited inmates to beat and sexually and verbally assault her. As a result of what would become a three months-long detention, Sarah was fired from her job and experienced severe depression and PTSD. Ultimately, and out of fear for her safety amid continued targeting, bullying, and repression, Sarah was forced to flee Egypt in 2018.

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