Biography

In an article published by Mada Masr on September 24, 2018, Hegazi recounted her arrest. She wrote that she was arrested at home in front of her family, and that, during the process, the officer questioned her about her religion, why she removed her hijab, and whether she was a virgin or not. According to her account, the officer blindfolded her and took her by car to a location she did not know. She sat in a chair gagged with a cloth with her hands cuffed. She was subject to electric shock and she lost consciousness. She was also threatened that her mother would be harmed if she told anyone.

Egypt's Bedayaa LGBT Organisation reported that the death of Hegazi and the ensuing media attention prompted an online homophobic and transphobic smear campaign against her and the LGBT community.[18] Noor Selim, a transgender Egyptian man and the son of renowned actor Hesham Selim, blasted what he called societal hypocrisy and defended Hegazi's memory. On 23 June 2020, two Egyptian lawyers filed a lawsuit against Selim for defending Hegazi, and accused him of trying to "spread homosexuality" in Egypt.

She was charged with joining an organization whose intent was to contravene the law by inciting acts of immorality or debauchery. Her arrest coincided with Egypt's zero-tolerance crackdown response to end public support for LGBT rights in the country. She was jailed for three months at Sayeda Zeinab police station where male agents incited inmates to beat her, and verbally and sexually assault her.

John Greyson's 2021 experimental short documentary film International Dawn Chorus Day was created as a tribute to Hegazi and Shady Habash. A short documentary titled "The Sarah Hegazi Documentary" by director Nicole Teeny was a finalist of the 2022 Breaking Through the Lens jury.

The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) named Sarah Hegazi in their tribute to "450 feminist activists who have changed our world".