Sara Aziz is protecting Egypt’s children by breaking the silence, preventing abuse, empowering families, and influencing policy.
Child molestation is one of Egypt’s most silenced crises, yet its scope is anything but small. A study among university students in Sohag revealed that nearly 30% reported having experienced abuse during childhood. These consist of 37.8% of women and 21.2% of men, and alarmingly, 76% of those cases were never disclosed.
Despite the enormity of this crisis, it remains deeply hidden, shrouded in cultural stigma, and ignored by institutions. Victims are discouraged from speaking out, families often choose silence over support, and official systems frequently look the other way. Yet, as these numbers make painfully clear, silence does not erase the harm, but only lets it multiply.
This is the reality Sara Aziz, a psychotherapist and survivor of childhood molestation, decided she could no longer accept.
Sara Aziz grew up carrying trauma in an environment where such experiences were rarely acknowledged, let alone addressed. By the age of 21, she realised that the only way forward was to confront the silence head-on. Determined to equip herself with the right tools, she pursued studies at Denmark University, specialising in trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy for survivors of sexual abuse. Since 2009, she has worked with children, teenagers, and women in both individual and group therapy, gaining firsthand understanding of the scale of Egypt’s unspoken crisis.
In 2012, Aziz founded Safe Egypt, originally called Safe Kids Egypt, the country’s first NGO devoted to preventing child molestation and protecting children from violence. The mission was to empower children and families to recognise, resist, and report abuse while shifting social attitudes that enabled it. Over the years, the organisation expanded its focus to include families, recognising that prevention requires both empowered children and supportive caregivers.
Safe Egypt delivers awareness and prevention workshops in schools, rural villages, urban slums, and businesses, relying on interactive methods like music, games, and role-play to make difficult conversations accessible. Its therapy programs offer psychological support to survivors of sexual violence, bullying, and gender-based abuse, helping them rebuild confidence and resilience. Through initiatives like I Am Safe Online, the group teaches children and families to navigate digital spaces securely using books, board games, and workshops. To strengthen parent-child communication, Safe Egypt developed SAFEELINGS, a family card game designed to build emotional intelligence, challenge stereotypes, and encourage open dialogue at home.
Beyond individual families, the organisation works with institutions. It trains teachers, social workers, and caregivers to identify and respond to abuse, and recently launched Safe Shield, an initiative that provides safeguarding workshops in underserved schools in partnership with the Egypt Education Platform. This holistic model ensures that protection extends from the household into classrooms and communities.
Making significant impact
Thousands of children now understand their rights and how to seek help thanks to Safe Egypt. Parents and teachers have gained tools to protect themselves, and communities once resistant to discussing abuse are slowly opening up.
National recognition has followed as Sara Aziz was honoured with the Business Elites 40 Under 40 award for her role as a social entrepreneur, and is a member of Egypt’s Top 50 Forum of influential women leaders. In 2024, she was appointed to the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood, granting her a platform to influence child protection policies at the national level.
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