Mozn Hassan

Mozn Hassan (@Mozn) is the founder and executive director of Nazra for Feminist Studies.  In 2011, Nazra had an active role in the protests at Tahrir Square, providing a coordinated response to sexual assaults. Since 2012, Nazra has supported survivors of rape and women’s rights activists under threat.

Under Mozn’s leadership, Nazra successfully lobbied for the 2014 constitution of Egypt to address women’s rights, introduce laws against sexual harassment, and expand existing laws to cover more sexual crimes. Mozn helped establish the Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa to provide a common response to women’s rights breaches in the region. In 2016, she also helped set up the Caucus for Women Politicians in the Arab Region.

She is head of the Board of Directors at Doria Feminist Fund, launched in 2021 to provide support for feminists in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. She established the fund with the Right Livelihood Award, often called the ‘Alternative Nobel Peace Prize,’ she received in 2016 for “asserting the equality and rights of women in circumstances where they are subject to ongoing violence, abuse, and discrimination.” The official award ceremony was delayed until the Fall of 2022 because of travel restrictions imposed on Mozn and other civil society leaders in Egypt.

Mozn holds an MA in International Human Rights Law and is currently pursuing an MA in Community Psychology, both from the American University in Cairo.

She received the Global Fund for Women’s inaugural Charlotte Bunch Human Rights Award in 2013.