Just months after a British woman was detained in Egypt for bringing prescription drugs into the country, a 31-year-old Russian woman has been arrested after dancing too provocatively - despite being hired to do exactly that. Ekaterina Andreeva, who uses the nickname "Gawhara" when she's on stage, was employed as a belly dancer to entertain patrons of a club in Giza, north Egypt. Videos of her dancing were posted online, and appear to show the crowd cheering her on and joining in with her moves. As far as the clubgoers were concerned, then, Andreeva was doing nothing wrong. However, because of a slight wardrobe complication, her performance was later deemed to be "immoral" and she has since been charged with "inciting debauchery". According to the prosecutor in the case, Hatim Fadl, Andreeva's dancing was considered a criminal act because of her outfit. "Rules for the dance performance oblige the performer to wear underwear of any color but beige," he said. However, he went on: "Gawhara did not have any underwear, and of course it was provocative." A further report in an Egyptian newspaper explained that "Tourism police arrested [Andreeva] after they saw a video of the dancer wearing a revealing outfit in violation of standards that exposed the charms of her body without shorts." It also made note that she apparently "used her hand to point at sensitive parts of her body to stir up the passions of young people." During the investigation, Andreeva denied the accusations. "I know the traditions of your country, if I wanted to dance naked I’d have done it in Russia," she said. "The dance suit that appeared in the videos is not provocative and is identical to the costume my counterparts wear in Egypt." [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVFpNF0fSxk&feature=youtu.be]] The belly dancer also claimed that investigators on the case had acted unlawfully, and had stolen the outfit she was wearing that evening without acquiring a warrant first. The reason they did this, she says, was so that it could be used against her as evidence in court. Police interrogated Andreeva for five hours, during which time they also accused her of performing without a license. However, she was adamant that she had a work permit that had been issued by the General Administration of Tourism. Unfortunately, due to a crackdown on "immorality" in Egypt at the moment, the 31-year-old's case was treated with extreme severity, and she was charged with two offenses. For now, the dancer - who reportedly runs a dance studio with her husband in Moscow - has been released on bail. She was ordered to pay 5,000 EGP ($282) and has yet to be sentenced for her "crimes". According to a friend of Andreeva's, the company who originally hired her to perform at the Giza nightclub are working with lawyers in order to resolve the issue, and hopefully allow the belly dancer to avoid serving any jail time. It is awful that the dancer would face criminal charges for something like this in the first place, and is yet another example of archaic laws which are in place to oppress women.

A popular belly-dancer has been sentenced to three years in prison and slapped with a $18,500 after being found guilty by Egyptian courts of feeding "immorality" on social media.

On Saturday, Sama el-Masry was ordered to pay 300,000 Egyptian pounds as the nation clamps down on certain content shared to social media, The Independent reports.

The 42-year-old was arrested back in April following an investigation into pictures and videos that have been uploaded to social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Per Insider, public prosecution had deemed el-Masry's content to be sexually suggestive

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El-Masry - who boasts over 3 million followers on Instagram - has denied the allegations and said the content in question was stolen last year and shared without her consent.

Cairo's Misdemeanours Economic Court said el-Masry had violated family principles and values, as well as using her social media accounts with the aim of committing "immorality".

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John Talaat, a member of parliament who had requested legal action against el-Masry and other female TikTokers, told those accused: "There is a huge difference between freedom and debauchery."

In 2018, Egypt introduced a cybercrime law that allowed the government to censor the internet and conduct surveillance of communications. The law carries penalties of imprisonment for a minimum of two years and a fine of up to 300,000 Egyptian pounds.

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In recent months, several female TikTok and Instagram influencers and YouTubers have been arrested by the Egyptian authorities on charges of promoting debauchery and prostitution on social media.

Per the Telegraph, Mr Talaat said that the other influencers currently on trial are expected to receive the same prison terms as El-Masry, as they had committed the same crime.

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However, women's rights lawyer Entessar el-Saeed, who is also the head of the Cairo Center for Development and Law, has spoken out and said that it is only women who have been targeted by the authorities according to this law.

El-Masry has confirmed that she will be appealing the ruling.

Per Al Jazeera, an Egyptian court has sentenced five female social media influencers to two years in jail each on charges of violating public morals.

This comes after Haneen Hossam, Mowada al-Adham and three others posted footage on popular video-sharing app, TikTok.

According to the publication, the ruling, which can be appealed, included a fine of 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($18,750) for each defendant.

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Haneen Hossam, who is 20-years-old and a Cairo University student, was charged for purportedly encouraging young women to meet men through a video app and build friendships with them. She received a fee according to the number of followers watching these chats.

TikTok and Instagram influencer, Mawada al-Adham, had at least two million followers and was accused of posting indecent photos and videos to social media.

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The three other women were charged with helping Hossam and Al-Adham manage their social media accounts, per the public prosecution.

Al-Adham's lawyer, Ahmed el-Bahkeri, has since confirmed the sentences and asserted that they would appeal the verdict.

El-Bahkeri said the young women were facing separate charges over the sources of their funds.

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"The verdict is shocking, though it was expected. We will see what happens on appeal," women's rights lawyer, Intissar al-Saeed, has said. "It is still a dangerous indicator ... Regardless of the divergent views on the content presented by the girls on TikTok, it still is not a reason for imprisonment."

Several human rights have taken to social media to condemn the sentences. A hashtag trending in Arabic, which translates to "with the permission of the Egyptian family", has been used online in a bid to draw attention to the arrests and demand the release of the female influencers.

A petition was also launched on Change.org demanding the release of the influencers with more than 1500 signatures at the time of writing.

"We are a group of women calling on state authorities to stop targeting women on TikTok. We call on the National Council for Women to provide legal support for Haneen Hossam, Mawada El-Adham, Menna AbdelAziz, Sherry Hanem, Nora Hesham, Manar Samy, Reenad Emad, Hadeer Hady, and Bassant Mohamed," the petition reads.

In recent years, Egypt has cracked down on female singers and dancers for online content that is deemed too provocative.

To most of us in the western world, Instagram is largely a harmless social media site where we boast about our vacations, upload silly stories and post the occasional selfie. However, in the Middle East, the photo-sharing network is responsible for dozens of people's arrests. Their crime? Posting pictures and videos.

In Iran, in southern port city of Bandar Abbas, 630 miles south of Tehran, more than 40 people - including eight women - have been rounded up by the police, who claim that they had been sharing "indecent" footage on their pages. They added that those arrested were "damaging public virtue through the organised spreading of anticultural" activities.

However, while the videos and pictures in question have been deemed morally reprehensible by the authorities in Iran, people in the western world would barely blink an eyelid if it appeared on their newsfeed. Case in point, Maedeh Hojabri's case.

Earlier this month, police took Maedeh, an 18-year-old girl, into custody after she posted videos of herself dancing on her popular Instagram account. Deemed "immoral" by authorities, the footage showed her dancing to western pop and rap music, in some, she was not wearing a hijab which is required in public in Iran.

After she was arrested, her account - which had more than 600,000 followers - was suspended and teenager Instagram star was seemingly forced on state TV to apologise to the country. She appeared, her face blurred but visibly crying and shaking, onscreen to explain her motivation for producing the videos, telling the camera: "It wasn’t for attracting attention. I had some followers and these videos were for them. I did not have any intention to encourage others doing the same … I didn’t work with a team, I received no training. I only do gymnastics."

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Her arrest sparked a mini-revolution on social media and hundreds of women began showing their support for the teenager by sharing videos of themselves dancing on social media. Using hashtags that translate as "#dancing_isn’t_a_crime" and "#dance_to_freedom", dozens of supporters showed solidarity with Maedeh, risking their own arrests in the process

Local media have since reported she has been released on bail, however, her liberation was soon followed by more arrests this week. Among the detainees this time are Instagram models, and people who work in photography, beauty salons and wedding businesses, who used the social media site to share footage deemed indecent by the state.

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Instagram is one of the few social media sites the Iranians have access to - Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and the Telegram messaging app are all banned - however, the judiciary is said to be considering completely blocking access to the photo-sharing platform now. In the meantime, they will work on shutting down other "indecent" accounts which broadcast behaviour that is deemed "un-Islamic".

Police outrage at online footage in Iran does not come as a surprise and is largely precedented; in 2014, the authorities sentenced six young men and women to suspended prison terms after they appeared in a video dancing to the Pharrell William' song Happy.

Collecting over two million viewed, the video was intended to show the rest of the world that Iran’s young people "have moments of joy and happiness even though they live with many difficulties." Instead, it saw its creators be sentenced to lashes by police who described it "a vulgar clip" which "hurt public chastity".

Stories like Maedeh Hojabri's highlight just how lucky people in the western world are to live in a society that allows them to largely express themselves freely online. However, just because we can post a video of ourselves dancing on Instagram and not experience consequences, this does not mean that we shouldn't fight for the people who don't have that simple freedom.

Music videos are rife with sexual imagery nowadays. Over the last few years, it seems like mainstream music videos have become even more raunchy and risqué. I remember the moment that my eyes were first opened to this racy nature of the videos, with Eric Prydz "Call On Me" changing the way I viewed the world and seemingly turning me into a man in the space of two minutes and 52 seconds. However, while the Prydz video caused controversy for its highly charged sexual imagery at the time, it seems like every music video is now packed full of scantily-clad bodies. But one country that is seemingly yet to accept this new mode of sexual expression, particularly when it comes to women, is Egypt. An Egyptian pop singer has been arrested for "inciting debauchery" due to a music video where she appears to suggestively eat a banana. Shaimaa Ahmed, who is better known by her stage name Shyma, pulled out the oldest sexual innuendo in the book when she tucked into the fruit in front of a classroom full of young men, and officials in her country are not happy. Not done with the suggestive-fruit-eating, Shyma also appears in the video dressed in just her underwear and in front of a blackboard with "Class #69" written on it. She also proceeds to suggestively eat an apple and pour milk all over the fruit. The video is for her single "I Have Issues" and it has created such a stir in the conservative country that it has been discussed on TV talk shows. But while it may seem fairly innocuous to the majority of people, Shyma was arrested for her role in the video and security officials say that prosecutors have ordered the 25-year-old to be detained for a week. Shyma was arrested last week and was initially remanded for four days, but prosecutors ordered her to be detained for seven days. It's not the first time that Egypt has reprimanded a female singer for expressing taking ownership of her body, with the country also reprimanding a Lebanese pop star for wearing a pair of shorts when performing on stage. Haifa Wehbe, 41, claims that she was "called for interrogation" after donning a pair of mini-shorts during a performance at the American University in Cairo. According to the singer, a female journalist was so upset with her performance that she complained to the country's tourism police. The police passed on the complaint to the Egyptian Musicians' Syndicate, which licenses performers in the country. They summoned Haifa's manager who was warned that the singer should pick outfits which "take into account the traditions and customs of Egyptian people." While Shyma's video is cringe-worthy more than anything and the song is trash, she doesn't need to be arrested for it. While women's rights have come on leaps and bounds, the fact that they still can't take ownership of their bodies in countries such as Egypt suggests that there is still a long way to go until we achieve gender equality on an international level.

People go to jail for bad, bad things like selling drugs or robbing banks or murder or fraud. But for eating a piece of fruit with a bit of a suggestive twinkle in your eye? I wouldn't say that's on the same scale of things. However, in some conservative countries, promoting racy behaviour is seen as a legitimate crime that can have you fined and behind bars for a few years if you're unlucky. Just like this singer from Egypt, who's been apprehended for seductively eating a banana in one of her music videos. [[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/ShymaFans/photos/a.786007851570529.1073741829.723800937791221/807807379390576/?type=3&theater]] 21-year-old Shaimaa Ahmed caused nothing short of an uproar after releasing the video for her single I Have Issues. The video attracted over a million views all within a few days of its release. The video is no longer online. The singer, whose stage name is Shyma, is seen dancing in her underwear in a classroom of adult men, in front of a blackboard In the video, the singer, who is known professionally as Shyma, is seen dancing in her underwear in front of a classroom of adult men ("Class #69", according to what's written on the blackboard behind her) and teases them with various items of food. She licks peanut butter off her finger, tongues an apple and pours milk over a banana (?) before unpeeling it and eating it in a suggestive way. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvUBzd_RtRc]] The overtly sexualised video where the singer seems to be attempting to seduce her audience by demonstrating sexual acts with the various props is not really anything new in Western music, however, was not tolerated in the conservative country of Egypt. The deeply religious society is known as one of the least free countries in the world and is also in the bottom 15 of countries in the Gender Gap Report. Following complaints about the video, the little-known singer was arrested on November 18. She has been given a two-year jail sentence for “inciting debauchery” for appearing in the video in her underwear and performing seductive acts on the banana. She was also fined 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($560) by the Cairo court. Mohamed Gamal, the director of the music video, received the same two-year prison sentence. They were both accused of inciting debauchery as well as producing a video harming public morality. After the video was released, it caused a stir in social media and was widely discussed in national media and on TV talkshows. One newspaper Youm 7 wrote: "Singer Shyma presents a lesson in depravity to youths.” [[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/ShymaFans/photos/a.724393647731950.1073741828.723800937791221/857732387731408/?type=3&theater]] The singer posted to Facebook at the time, apologising for the video and promised to stick to "true art" from then on. “I didn’t imagine all this would happen and that I would be subjected to such a strong attack from everyone, as a young singer … who has dreamt from a young age of being a singer,” she wrote. Shyma reportedly also denied the accusations at first, saying the director included the controversial scenes without her consent. It's still possible for the two defendants to appeal the verdict to a higher court. The wide-ranging morality laws under the Egyptian president have been used to apprehend a number of different artists in recent years. Yikes! Remember to eat your fruits and vegetables with dignity next time you're there, folks.