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My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

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Hello and welcome to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service with me for

Hanna-Heather.

And today we go back to 2011 when Egyptians took to the streets calling for the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak,

whose regime had been in power for nearly 30 years.

Their uprising was part of a movement of pro-democracy protests across the Arab world.

Egyptian women were at the forefront of protests, bravely defying

traditional stereotypes they were demanding change.

For me personally, I went there not only to demand freedom,

spread and social justice as my fellow Egyptians,

but also for my rights and freedoms as a woman.

It was my first chance to raise my voice.

Hend Nefia was a student activist at the time of the protests.

As a woman from a rural village with a conservative upbringing,

Hend had lived with anti-women prejudices all her life.

Since early age I was denied basic rights and freedom. I was subjected to gender-based violence and

discrimination starting at early days of my childhood and everyone around me had control over my body, my decisions, my life only because I am a girl.

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