For our community
We try to provide care for our community in emergencies as much as we can, as so many of us live under an absurd oppression that refuses to see any trace of our humanity.
The Nile Valley · Egypt & Sudan
Because our voices will not fade We create our spaces and protect them
Masahat is an organization that supports and advocates for the rights of gender diverse communities in the Nile Valley, Egypt and Sudan. Founded in 2015, it provides spaces for resistance and resilience.
- When they shut down our spaces, we create new ones!
- When they crush our voices, we raise them!
- And we resist with all we can!
Because our voice is still here
We support, advocate for and empower queer individuals and organizations in the Nile Valley.
Who are we?
We create spaces for gender diverse communities
For safety & awareness
Because the targeting of gender diverse people continues, we keep advocating and keep updating our portal for holistic personal security!
And for empowerment
Masahat empowers queer individuals and organizations through a range of programs, so that our spaces grow and we reclaim our own narrative.
Our work focuses onThree programs
- Building the capacities and leadership skills of current and future young queer leaders in the Nile Valley (Egypt and Sudan).
- Leadership assessment by identifying strengths and weaknesses.
- Training courses and workshops.
- Providing digital resources online.
- Providing security plans and safety and security assessments.
- Connecting Sudanese and Egyptian queer activists with digital security experts and NGOs for ongoing support and follow-up.
- Training on personal safety and digital security.
- Personal empowerment training (removing social and cultural obstacles, including intersectional issues of faith and spirituality).
- Online campaigns.
- Documenting violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Writing and publishing country reports.
- Making documentaries that analyse the political, social, cultural and religious contexts queer people live in, documenting their everyday lived experiences and the oral history of queer communities in Egypt and Sudan.
From you, to youAll stories
How do we protect ourselves, online and off?
Lord, don’t let us get exposed
Daily morning and evening prayers aren’t enough. We also have to keep ourselves safe!
Explore the holistic security portalQueen Boat Forever
A map of our pride and our oppression
Queen Boat Forever is a project we started with the simplest of means on the 25th anniversary of the Queen Boat case, one of the most brutal episodes of violence in which the police, the media and the judiciary joined forces to target queer people aboard the Queen Boat. But because oppression can be turned into pride, and we can tear away the shame that power wants to smear over our faces, we started Queen Boat Forever: a project that honours the victims of the massacre and gives our pride, as well as our oppression, a map!
And send us songs to add to it!
Masahat publications
Stories beyond the usual script
Over the years we have released many publications that you can read and share with your loved ones. We will always keep publishing work that goes beyond dominant, repetitive narratives and silenced mouths, God willing!
Browse publicationsBecause we’re in this together
Got a question, an idea, or need support? Write to us at communication@mesahatfoundation.org