Belady Center manager dismissed after independent investigation of sexual harassment claims

A project manager at the Belady Center for Rights and Freedoms has been dismissed for sexual harassment after a committee found claims against him that first came to light on social media six months ago to be legitimate.

In July, a feminist activist published four accounts of sexual harassment on social media naming Mohamed Hassanein for the first time. The July post relayed the stories of anonymous women who accused him of misusing his power and position in the civil society community to threaten several women with the prospect of losing their jobs if they didn’t perform sexual acts he requested.

In a press release on Tuesday, the Belady Center for Rights and Freedoms announced that an independent three-member committee had concluded that an unnamed project manager had been found guilty of the sexual harassment allegations.

The Belady Center announced that the project manager had been let go on the basis of the investigating committee’s recommendations, adding a qualified pledge to “contribute to psychological services” for the women he harassed upon request “to the extent that the organization’s resources allow.”

According to the accounts published on social media in July, two women outside of the organization said Hassanein repeatedly asked them to sleep with him, threatening them with professional repercussions if they refused. One of the women said he had invited her to his house, where he exposed himself and threatened her to comply.

A few hours after the testimonies emerged on social media, the Belady Center suspended “the project manager [accused] of sexual harassment until an investigation is conducted” and called on the survivors to submit their testimonies to the center, pledging to preserve confidentiality and to form a committee to investigate the allegations in a press release. A committee of three experts from Egyptian civil society was formed to investigate the allegations, Belady announced on July 25. 

The women began submitting their testimonies to the independent committee on September 15, 2020, after being provided the necessary guarantees of confidentiality, preservation of privacy and protection from harm, Belady said in Tuesday’s release.

In April 2017, Mohamed Hassanein and seven other defendants, including his wife Aya Hegazy, a dual Egyptian-American citizen, were acquitted and released from prison after spending more than three years in remand detention over charges stemming from their work at the Belady Foundation for Street Children, the nongovernmental organization Hegazy co-founded.

President Trump said that intervention by his administration had secured their release. “We were very proud to quietly work with the Egyptian government last week to ensure that an American citizen, a beautiful young woman named Aya came home after being in an Egyptian prison for the past three years,” Trump said in April 2017. “I met with President el-Sisi and it worked out and he was great about it.”

Correction [2/8/2021 2:20pm]: This article has been amended from its original version to remove any implication that the women who accused Hassanein of sexual harassment worked for the Belady Center for Rights and Freedoms. Hassanein is also not a co-founder of the center.