A photojournalist has posted a graphic selfie of the horrific injuries she suffered at the hands of a knife-wielding taxi driver as part of the viral #MeToo campaign.
Rena Effendi, who is based in Istanbul, shared the photo on Facebook last week showing a deep gash above her eyebrow and her blood-streaked face.
‘#metoo when a taxi driver thought he had a right to my body, but I fought him back and managed to escape,’ Effendi posted alongside the photo.
Rena Effendi, who is based in Istanbul, shared the photo on Facebook last week showing a deep gash above her eyebrow and her blood-streaked face
She shared the image as part of the #MeToo campaign, which started in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal.
Effendi, in an article for TIME magazine, detailed the terrifying encounter she had with a male taxi driver in Cairo back in 2012.
She said the driver, who was armed with a knife, had pulled over one the side of a vacant freeway and demanded that she remove her clothes. The driver had locked the doors and pinned her down by reclining his seat.
‘He then began head-butting me on the face. My vision blurred, but I did not lose consciousness. I fought back with the only thing I had in my hands, an iPhone,’ she wrote in the article.
‘While hitting his temple as hard as I could with the corner of the phone I told him I had money in my purse and to let me go.’
She said he wasn’t interested in the money and continued to beat her.
She shared the image as part of the #MeToo campaign, which started in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal
Effendi, in an article for TIME magazine, detailed the terrifying encounter she had with a male taxi driver in Cairo back in 2012
‘Each time I halfway climbed out of the car, he grabbed me by the hair and dragged me back inside. After some struggle, I finally managed to crawl out of the cab completely. A passing car slowed down. Perhaps someone saw me. The offender then realized he might be getting caught and finally let me go,’ Effendi wrote.
Effendi said she was encouraged by the testimonies of the women who had shared their stories of harassment and abuse as part of the #MeToo campaign.
‘It’s good to finally see such wide coverage on the issue of sexual abuse,’ Effendi wrote on Facebook.
‘It took somebody powerful and famous in Hollywood to prompt this international outrage, let’s hope that it will at least keep the momentum going and shed light on other stories of ordinary survivors.
‘We know it happens everyday and everywhere: in war, on the street, in offices, in public spaces and inside families.
‘Unfortunately, much of it is still unreported due to social stigma and remains unpunished. I hope that the culture of shame will not stand in the way of these stories being told.’