*Mayam Mahmoud tackling expectations about how women should behave
*Economics student calls on victims of sex abuse to shout at their attackers
*Egyptian shot to fame after her appearance on Arabs Got Talent in October
*Gets 50 supportive messages a day on Facebook, but some claim she is creating a 'bad name for Islam'
*99.3% of Egyptian women have reported being victim of sexual harassment
A hijab-wearing rapper who starred on the Arabic version of Britain's Got Talent has told how she is using her music to stand up for women's rights in the Middle East.
Mayam Mahmoud, an economics undergraduate from Egypt, wants to tackle the taboo of sexual harassment in her country where more than 99 per cent of women have reported being a victim.
The 18-year-old, who carries a sharp nail for protection, makes clear in one of her raps that 'I won't be the shamed one' and calls on women to shout at harassers the street in the hope others with follow.
'It's happening to everyone,' she says. 'But everyone is scared to talk about it.'
Her views shot to prominence in October when she first appeared in front of an audience of millions on Arabs Got Talent, where she eventually made it to the semi-finals.
Interest in her music quickly grew and new fans have been posting up to 50 supportive messages on Facebook every day.
But she said it has also provoked a backlash among radicals.
She told the Guardian: 'Some say I'm creating a bad name for Islam. Or even that I'm an infidel.
'It's got a lot of people talking about whether it's possible for a veiled girl, or even a girl, to do this.'
She hopes her success in the field of rapping - which is heavily dominated by men - will challenge the way women, and those wearing hijabs in particular, are supposed to behave.
Miss Mahmoud started rapping when she was ten years old after her mother introduced her to poetry.
She told the BBC: 'I was writing poerty first which I later wrote with a faster rhyme. I realised this was called rap.
'I realised all the male rappers must have a track in which they talk about girls and their clothes, blaming girls for everything happening around us.
'That wasn't right, so I rapped about girls and the problems they face.'
According to a UN survey released in April, 99.3 per cent of Egyptian women reported being sexually harassed, causing 91 per cent to be fearful in the street.
One day I'll stop singing ,and I hope that day Others and You continue and carry on with the idea I stopped it...............
One day I'll stop singing ,and I hope that day Others and You continue and carry on with the idea I stopped it...............
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