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Several rights groups led by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said on Wednesday that sexual violence against women in Egypt has been abundant since the 2011 uprising and that women protesters had been the target of sexual attacks with impunity, they said.
In their report, the groups said that “successive Egyptian governments have failed to address violence against women, with serious implications for women’s participation in the political transition of their country”. The report noted that there were several reports of sexual assaults on female protesters during the demonstrations after Hosni Mubarak’s fall in 2011, during the succeeding military government and later during demonstrations against President Mohammed Morsi.
Reportedly, there have been over 250 cases of sexual assault against women between November 2012 and January 2014, most of them near Tahrir Square in Cairo, the iconic site of several anti-Mubarak and anti-Morsi demonstrations.
“Survivors and witnesses reported the same pattern: tens of men surrounded the survivors, tore off their clothes and groped their bodies. Some were raped by multiple perpetrators, who were often armed with sticks, blades and other weapons. However, as of March 2014, not a single perpetrator had yet been brought to justice”, the report said, quoting the experiences of several victims.
“The men were like lions around a dead piece of meat and their hands were all over my body and up under my destroyed clothes”, said one victim of a alleged assault in June 2012 during a protest. “My pants and underwear were pulled down violently and several men at the same time raped me with their fingers. Suddenly I was on the ground and the men pulled me from my hair, legs and arms while they continued raping me”, the unidentified victim added.
The rights groups blamed the authorities for not ensuring effective investigations against and prosecution of the perpetrators. Executive Director of Nazra for Feminist Studies, one of the rights groups involved, Mozn Hassan, said “comprehensive measures, taken in consultation with civil society, are needed not only to protect and promote the right of women to live free from violence, but to enable women to participate in defining Egypt’s future.”
Please click here for the full report.
