and the conversation in egypt now, especially after the revolution... and from tahrir square, because i follow people who tweet from tahrir square live, i'm seeing tweets of... one woman a few days ago said, "i just punched a guy twice in the face because he groped me, and my friends kicked him out of tahrir." i'm saying, "this is it. this is the future of egypt." >> hinojosa: wow. well, those women may have read some of the things that you wrote about, because what you've done, mona, is you've put it out there. >> not just me, maria, not just me. many other women have. >> hinojosa: many other women. but there is a movement because, frankly, when you hear what was so shocking to me, that your experience of being groped happened when you were on the hajj. >> yes, yes. >> hinojosa: so this is a pilgrimage of holy people. >> absolutely. >> hinojosa: and you're a teenage muslim girl and you're getting groped at the hajj. >> and it was horrifying. it was the first time in my life i had ever been touched in that way, and again, it is a reminder that this has nothing to do with religion, it

she joined hundreds of thousands of protesters in tahrir square.hen, one night in late 2012, horror. >> they attacked me and they stripped me and they raped me and, uh, they, i was beaten. it was really violent. it lasted for 70 minutes. if it was 15 minutes, if it was 20 minutes, it was 30 minutes, i was learning all that time and it felt like, i had the experience of thirty years or forty years in this hour. >> reporter: from late 2012 through the middle of 2013, human rights groups say hundreds, perhaps thousands, of female protestors were sexually assaulted. in at least some cases, activists believe the government used violence as a political weapon. >> i didn't doubt for a moment that this is a coincidence. i believe it is organized and it happened to many other women that day and later. >> government was on the television saying, "women who go to the square deserve this to happen." >> reporter: president abdel fattah al-sisi has tried to strike a different tone, visiting a sexual assault victim in hospital. but his government defends a contro

he painted the group's flag and demonstrated in tahrir square.protested with meher, but khouly gets to celebrate his daughter's birthday in person, because he chose a different path. so, we're in your office. and this is a photo of you and the president. what is the significance for you of this photo? >> reporter: tariq el khouly might still call himself a revolutionary, but he's not protesting anymore. he's a member of parliament. >> reporter: the opposition complains that space has been co-opted because even president sisi praises the revolution. el khouly defends the president by arguing lawmaking is the revolution's next step. >> reporter: but what kind of government? and what are those parties' priorities? >> reporter: abdel rahim ali is a member of parliament in the same coalition as tariq el khouly. they are supposed to check presidential power. but he and hundreds of colleagues hastily approved sisi's campaign. rahim ali broadcasts that support. he is a popular tv anchor who indicts the government's opponents on national tv. that's a reco

for some egyptian activists, that night in cologne brings back painful memories from tahrir square. >> what is common is using women's bodies as a battlefield, you know, to achieve political ends. >> reporter: in egypt, some tried to use the attacks to tarnish the revolution's image. [ shouting ] in germany, the violence is heightening concerns over immigration. >> the most important thing in these assaults is the safe and well-being of the survivors. >> reporter: this mob mentality manifests in daily street harassment. in 2013, a u.n. report founded 99.3% of egyptian women were sexually harassed. since then, the country has made progress. the ministry of interior created a special women's unit. the government passed laws with strong penalties, especially for mob assaults. activists raise awareness through the media. >> a number of women got sexually harassment in the streets every day. the difference in the streets is like the level of awareness of people. >> reporter: no new official numbers exist since the u.n. report. mob assaults appear to have decreased for now. many attribute t