Assala Mdawkhy (She/They) is a former Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP working on gender and sexuality in MENA. Assala is an LGBTQI+ rights advocate and a human rights defender, who initiated and has taken part in a number of different social and political movements and actions against injustice, impunity, and repressive legislations in Tunisia, in the MENA region, and on a pan-African level. Assala’s work now focuses on facilitating access to justice for LGBTQI+ individuals, setting up strategic litigation to repeal Article 230 of the Penal Code that criminalizes same-sex consensual relations, banning the use of anal tests, working on empowering the LGBTQI+ persons and community in Tunisia legally, socially, politically and economically, and also working on national and international advocacy. Assala studied English Literature and Civilization at the Faculty of Humanities in Sfax, while setting up a decentralized regional LGBTQI+ community center in Sfax as well, in which the queer community is offered a safe space along with legal, social, and psychological advice and assistance. You can follow Assala on Twitter here: @AMdawkhi.