A leading figure of the fight for Women’s rights in Egypt, the lawyer Azza Soliman created the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Lawyers for Justice and Peace. She has fought violence against women for over 20 years, and has worked on extremely sensitive topics such as spousal rape and khul (marital dissolution on the initiative of the wife).

Azza Soliman and other Egyptian human rights defenders suffer harassment on a daily basis, be it by the police, the justice system or media sympathetic to the government. Recently, Azza was arrested. She must answer a series of charges, of which the most serious is that of harming the image of Egypt. She is forbidden to leave the country, her assets have been freezed and she may be sentenced to considerable prison time.

She is the recipient of the Martine Anstett Prize and the FIFDH dedicates its 16th edition to her.