Egypt: Treatment of women who do not conform to Muslim practices and traditions, including wearing a veil (head covering), in rural and urban areas; state protection (2020–April 2022)
1. Overview
According to the US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2021, women in Egypt do not benefit from the same legal rights as men despite existing constitutional provisions for equal rights, and "discrimination was widespread" due to "[a]spects" of national legislation and "traditional societal customs" which "disadvantaged" women across various social and economic settings (US 12 Apr. 2022, 54–55). Sources report that [in 2020 and 2021] women were prosecuted for "morality"-related offences based on their activities online (Amnesty International 7 Apr. 2021, 146; HRW 13 Jan. 2022) and the way they dressed and behaved (Amnesty International 7 Apr. 2021, 146).
In an interview with the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP), a non-profit organization based in the US that supports local stakeholders and fosters dialogue on policy issues such as the rule of law and just societies in the Middle East and North Africa (TIMEP n.d.), a representative of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) [1] stated that one of the impediments to women's equality and access to equal rights in Egypt is the "growing" and "systematic pattern of moral panics" since 2020, which have seen the state "targeting women" for their perceived morality, preferences, personal choices, and "the way they present themselves, all in relation to their class backgrounds" (TIMEP 25 Mar. 2022). In an interview with the Research Directorate, an assistant professor of political science at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, who has published a book and peer-reviewed articles on the role of women in activism, including in Egypt, stated that Muslim traditions and norms in the country are "entrenched in gendered moral practices and discourse," including "how the regime [in power] expects Egyptian women to act" (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022). According to the Assistant Professor, individuals who do not "conform to gendered morality norms and discourse" face "punish[ment]" by society and authorities (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022). The same source further stated that while variations in treatment exist across different socioeconomic backgrounds, "all" women in Egypt face a certain degree of reprisal for behaviours deemed counter to accepted norms and traditions (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022).
The information in the following paragraph was provided by a representative of the Women's Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness (WCGLA) in Egypt, a feminist NGO that monitors and reports on issues for the protection and promotion of women's rights and provides legal services for survivors of violence and human rights violations (International Coalition of Sites of Conscience n.d.), in correspondence with the Research Directorate:
It is "difficult" to provide information on treatment by society and the authorities of women who do not conform to common Muslim practices. This is due to a lack of data collected by the government and the social barriers to gathering it as well as "contradictions" between the officially "stated and legally mandated" standards for responding to the mistreatment of women and the reality on the ground "of the lack of actions and enforcement of [those] standards." The distinction between societal and government pressures on women to conform to a particular dress code, for instance, is "often blurred," and women experience pressure from both sources (WCGLA 11 Apr. 2022).
2. Treatment
2.1 Treatment by Authorities
According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), authorities in Egypt either "perpetrate or tolerate" both "systemic and ongoing" violations of religious freedoms, notably with regard to blasphemy cases, which "disproportionately" affect non-Muslims and Muslims who do not follow state-sanctioned forms of Sunni Islam (US 21 Apr. 2021, 66). The WCGLA representative indicated that "[m]ost of the time," authorities do not "proactive[ly]" enforce particular Muslim practices and traditions, except in situations where societal pressures to "intimidate or jail women" exist and especially when there is "considerable public uproar" (WCGLA 11 Apr. 2022).
The Assistant Professor also reported that women have faced "harassment" for being unveiled when showing a veiled photo ID image to authorities, including exam proctors at universities and border agents (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022). The Assistant Professor added that changing photos on ID cards presents its own "set of challenges" to women in Egypt, as it requires a father's agreement (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022).
Sources report that authorities have "crack[ed ]down" on (Amnesty International 13 Aug. 2020) or "carried out an abusive campaign" against (HRW 17 Aug. 2020) women social media influencers (Amnesty International 13 Aug. 2020; HRW 17 Aug. 2020). According to sources, authorities have targeted women with charges related to morality, including public "'indecency'" (Amnesty International 13 Aug. 2020; DW 21 Jan. 2022), "[p]articularly" in the last two years (DW 21 Jan. 2022).
The information in the following paragraph was provided in a New York Times article on sexual abuse by authorities in the Egyptian justice system, based on the testimonials of 12 Egyptian women:
The women interviewed, whose interactions with the justice system began after reporting a crime, including sexual assault, or after being arrested for "speaking out" or protesting, described experiences of "sexua[l] abus[e]" by authorities. In "some" cases, the "violations" occurred during "routine searches" by the police or prison guards, while in others "state-employed" physicians performed "invasive" medical exams, including "so-called virginity tests," despite a 2011 court ruling against the use of these tests. According to Mostafa Foda, a former director of the Forensic Medicine Authority interviewed for the article, virginity tests continue to be carried out to establish whether the survivor was sexually active before the sexual assault, in which case the accused "will likely not be prosecuted" (The New York Times 5 July 2021).
2.1.1 Regional Variations
The information in the following paragraph was provided by the Assistant Professor:
According to research and interviews conducted by the source with women living in rural areas of Egypt, judges and judicial personnel located in rural regions of the country prefer to uphold the "accepted" societal traditions and norms of the communities they serve, "rather than the law." Police officers and judges in rural areas risk damage to their own reputations if they make decisions that challenge the "gendered moral norms and discourse" in their community, and authorities will "pressure" women not to report violations. Seeking police assistance can be "hit or miss." "Even" in Cairo, police are not always "helpful," depending on their expectations about women's behaviour or style of dress (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022).
According to media sources, a video from an incident in the city of Zagazig [Al-Zaqāzīq], the capital of the governorate of Sharqia [Sharqiya, Al-Sharqiyyah] in northern Egypt, in which a [Muslim (The New Arab 12 Oct. 2021)] woman pharmacist was "beaten" and "dragged" across the floor by her colleagues for not wearing a veil, circulated online in October 2021 (MEMO 9 Mar. 2022; The New Arab 12 Oct. 2021). The same sources indicate that the woman was detained by authorities after filing a complaint about the incident and "accused of" (MEMO 9 Mar. 2022) or "charged with" (The New Arab 8 Mar. 2022) involvement in a terrorist group, spreading false information, and "'stirring public opinion'" (MEMO 9 Mar. 2022; The New Arab 8 Mar. 2022). According to the same sources, the pharmacist was released from pre-trial detention in early March 2022 pending her trial (MEMO 9 Mar. 2022; The New Arab 8 Mar. 2022).
Sources report that, in 2020, an Egyptian belly dancer was convicted of "inciting debauchery and immorality" (Egypt Today 27 June 2020; US 30 Mar. 2021, 20). Egypt Today, an English-language social affairs magazine in Egypt (Egypt Today n.d.), reports that the Cairo Economic Misdemeanors Court sentenced her to three years in prison (Egypt Today 27 June 2020). US Country Reports 2020 notes that the appellate court reduced the sentence from three to two years (US 30 Mar. 2021, 20). Egypt Today states that the public prosecutor had accused the dancer of "violating the Egyptian society's morals" and that she had been arrested for "posting sexually suggestive videos on social media" (Egypt Today 27 June 2020).
2.1.2 Cybercrime Law
Sources report that Egyptian cybercrime laws "restrict" (HRW 17 Aug. 2020) or "enforc[e] strict" control on (AFP 21 June 2021) internet and social media content (AFP 21 June 2021; HRW 17 Aug. 2020). Law No. 175 of 2018, a law against cyber and information technology crimes, unofficially translated by Mohamed Chawki [2], provides the following:
(Chapter Three)
Crimes on Infringement of Privacy and Unlawful Information Content
Article (25)
Anyone who infringes a family principle or value of the Egyptian society, encroaches on privacy, sends many emails to a certain person without obtaining his/her consent, provides personal data to an e-system or website for promoting commodities or services without getting the approval thereof, or publishes, via the information network or by any means of information technology, information, news, images or the like, which infringes the privacy of any person involuntarily, whether the published information is true or false, shall be punishable by imprisonment for no less than six months and a fine of no less than fifty thousand Egyptian Pounds and no more than one hundred thousand Egyptian Pounds [C$3,425 to C$6,852], or by one of these two penalties.
Article (26)
Anyone who deliberately uses an information program or information technology in processing personal data of a third party to connect such data with an abusive content or to display the same in a way detrimental to the reputation of such third party shall be punishable by imprisonment for no less than two years and a fine of no less than one hundred thousand Egyptian Pounds and no more than three hundred thousand Egyptian Pounds, or by one of these two penalties.
(Chapter Four)
Crimes Committed with the Site Administrator
Article (27)
In cases other those stipulated herein, anyone who creates, manages, uses a website or a private account on the information network for the purpose of committing or facilitating a punishable crime shall be punishable by imprisonment for no less than two years and a fine of no less than one hundred thousand Egyptian Pounds and no more than three hundred thousand Egyptian Pounds, or by one of these two penalties. (Egypt 2018, bold in original)
According to a report by Egypt's National Council for Women (NCW) [see section 3.1.1 of this Response], the cybercrime law "aims to protect people, and specifically women" from practices online, including the publication of altered photos "with the aim of abuse or blackmail, using immoral or dishonorable means" (Egypt [2020], 48).
In a case reported by sources, a teenaged girl was arrested by authorities in May 2020 on charges of "'debauchery'" [for wearing clothes "deemed immoral" and "misusing social media" (The Washington Post 31 July 2020)] after posting a video stating that she had been raped (The Washington Post 31 July 2020; Vogue 8 July 2020); although the perpetrators were later arrested, the charges against the survivor were not dropped (Vogue 8 July 2020).
According to an article by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on a "[s]pate" of "'[m]orality'" prosecutions of women in 2020, in addition to the aforementioned case, 11 women social media users were arrested on "vague" morality charges under the 2018 cybercrimes law; three men who were also arrested were "accused of aiding two of the [arrested] women" and were sentenced to two years imprisonment (HRW 17 Aug. 2020). Amnesty International similarly reports the arrest of 10 women TikTok users between April and August 2020 under cybercrime legislation or other "vague legal provisions related to 'decency' and 'inciting immorality'" (Amnesty International 13 Aug. 2020). Sources report that, as of August 2020, four of the women had been fined and sentenced to prison terms between two and three years (Amnesty International 13 Aug. 2020; HRW 17 Aug. 2020). According to Amnesty International, legal documents indicate that the charges laid against the women are "punish[ment]" for the way they dressed, acted, earned money and influenced the public online (Amnesty International 13 Aug. 2020). HRW notes that "[m]ost" of the videos and photos posted online that "constituted the basis" for the women's arrests showed them dressed in "regular clothes that are common in Egypt" (HRW 17 Aug. 2020). Agence France-Presse (AFP) indicates that the "clampdown" on women social media influencers is "not unusual" in the country, as "several" belly dancers and pop singers have similarly been targets in "recent years" over what is considered "racy or suggestive" content online (AFP 21 June 2021).
Later media reporting related to some of the same cases covered in the HRW and Amnesty International articles indicates that two women TikTok influencers were handed six-year and ten-year prison sentences, respectively, [by the Cairo Criminal Court (AFP 21 June 2021)] in June 2021 for "human trafficking" (AFP 21 June 2021; Al Jazeera 23 June 2021; BBC 22 June 2021). According to the media sources, the verdict for an earlier sentence of two years for the women, for ["'violating family values and principles'" (BBC 22 June 2021)] or ["'attacking society's values'" (AFP 21 June 2021; Al Jazeera 23 June 2021)] through videos they posted online, had been overturned on appeal before the new charges of human trafficking were laid (AFP 21 June 2021; Al Jazeera 23 June 2021; BBC 22 June 2021). Sources also report that three men who were found to have assisted the women received six-year sentences (Al Jazeera 23 June 2021; BBC 22 June 2021).
The HRW article on morality prosecutions, citing an Arabic-language article by Mada Masr (Mada), a Cairo-based media organization whose reporting focuses on Egypt (Mada 9 Oct. 2019), indicates that "[m]any" of the arrested women social media influencers "come from poorer social and economic classes" (HRW 17 Aug. 2020). Regarding women on social media speaking out about sexual assault, the Washington Post reports that "[e]ven as women are coming forward to confront their attackers," most notably since 2020, "others are being arrested merely for expressing themselves," and their access to justice "often hinges on their social class and wealth" (The Washington Post 31 July 2020). The same source adds that "[s]ocioeconomic status" was possibly a factor in the women social media influencers' imprisonments, as "[a]ll the TikTok women were from lower-income neighborhoods" and their dancing and dress in their videos were "no differen[t]" than those of Egyptian women from more affluent backgrounds would be when in "fashionable nightclubs" (The Washington Post 31 July 2020).
2.2 Treatment by Society
According to US Country Reports 2021, women experience "widespread" discrimination by society, including threats to their physical safety and "bias" in the workplace (US 12 Apr. 2022, 55). According to an article published by the National, an English-language daily newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (The National n.d.), citing "rights groups," Egypt is "notorious for sexual harassment of women in public" (The National 5 July 2020). The same source adds that women have "silently endure[d] sexual harassment" in an effort to avoid the "risk" of "what many families see as the shame of going public with the details of assaults or rape" (The National 5 July 2020). The 2017 International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) – Middle East and North Africa (MENA) [3] notes that the survey indicated that sexual harassment on the street in Egypt "is a common practice among men," and is "most frequently" perpetrated against women and girls in urban areas (UN Women and Promundo-US 2017, 84). In Egypt, IMAGES MENA 2017 surveyed 1,380 men and 1,402 women between the ages of 18 and 59 in five governorates across the country, "[j]ust under half" of whom lived in urban settings (UN Women and Promundo-US 2017, 43). According to the survey results, "almost two-thirds" of the men acknowledged "having ever sexually harassed a woman or girl," "although," the survey's results report notes, "men tended to admit to less intrusive acts" (UN Women and Promundo-US 2017, 84). Further, according to the report, "almost" 90 percent of the men who admitted to sexually harassing a woman or girl "said they did so for fun or excitement" and 74 percent of the men surveyed considered women who "dress provocatively" to be "deserv[ing]" of harassment (UN Women and Promundo-US 2017, 84, 86). The New York Times article on sexual abuse states, citing Mostafa Foda, that "for some people," if a woman has "sex before marriage, then she's asking [to be raped]" and that the "entire value of a woman is in her virginity" (The New York Times 5 July 2021). In the same article, Foda is further cited as stating that the personal life of a survivor of rape is subject to scrutiny, including whether she drinks, smokes, "stay[s] out late," is veiled, and prays (The New York Times 5 July 2021).
2.2.1 Regional Variations
According to the WCGLA representative, "[i]n general," in cities like Cairo and Alexandria, the mistreatment of non-conforming women is more "moderat[e]" compared to rural regions, but "not eliminated" (WCGLA 11 Apr. 2022). The same source specified that societal pressures on non-conforming women are "greater" in rural areas and in smaller towns, as well as in southern Egypt, notably "around" Aswan and Sohag, where women are "extreme[ly]" "repress[ed]" and "limit[ed]" (WCGLA 11 Apr. 2022). Similarly, in correspondence with the Research Directorate, an associate professor of Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma indicated that social class and regional differences affect how women are treated in Egypt and noted as an example that women from "affluent sections of Cairo and Alexandria … have more freedom in terms of dress (and much else) than middle class and poorer women" (Associate Professor 4 Apr. 2022).
According to research and interviews conducted in rural areas of Egypt with women and women's rights organizations, the Assistant Professor indicated that "some" women who decided to remove their veil experienced "very intense fights and arguments" with their families and friends, and that "all" of the rural-based women "had to" move to Cairo in order to be able to live as an unveiled woman (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022). In an example provided by the Assistant Professor of one of their interviewees, a woman who removed her veil faced a "backlash" from her brothers [for religious reasons] and from her father due to his being "shamed" by their family and social circle (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022). The same source added that in a society where women's bodies and "purity" are perceived to be indicative of the honour of the entire family, not conforming to societal norms and traditions "becomes problematic" (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022).
2.2.2 Hisba
According to HRW, the concept of hisba in Egyptian law refers to a mechanism available to members of the public for submitting complaints on a "wide range" of matters, such as journal articles, books, or "dance performance[s]," that an individual deems "harm[ful]" to Egyptian society's "common interest, public morals, or decency"; "for years," authorities, including the Prosecutor General, have "acted upon such complaints" to prosecute members of civil society who are perceived to be challenging the government or the country's societal norms (HRW 17 Aug. 2020). In an academic article published in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Ahmed Ezzat, a PhD candidate with the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (University of Cambridge n.d.), describes hisba as a mechanism for "moral regulation" by authorities within the Egyptian judiciary, noting that
prosecutors and judges who question the beliefs and moral values of defendants, examining how they fit into a socially acceptable mold, also practice a different form of ḥisba, a form whose focus shifted in the 19th century from monitoring public morals in the market to maintaining public health. Ḥisba in the 20th and 21st centuries is concerned with the protection of the public order. (Ezzat 25 Sept. 2020, italics in original)
The same source goes on to further contextualize how hisba is applied in contemporary Egyptian society as follows:
This public order, which involves conceptions pertinent to the public sphere such as public interest, public decency, and national unity, shapes Egyptian social life in its entirety, regardless of religious, sexual, or political differences: there are certain characteristics by which all must abide to be acceptable in the public sphere. The design not only forbids individuals from committing certain acts, but, more importantly, it constructs a specific image of the ideal citizen, instills certain moralities, and instructs the citizen to behave in a specific way. These moralities seek to unify Egyptian society under a certain narrative and require individuals to perceive themselves not as men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims, rich and poor, or conservative and open minded, but as Egyptians first and foremost. The state does not impose this unifying paradigm by treating citizens as equal, irrespective of difference, but instead by restricting difference; it does not only apply direct repression on individuals, but guards these moralities by eliminating distinction between the state and society and allowing individuals to participate in the protection of this moral system. This indistinction between state and society in guarding the moral order can be considered the goal of Egypt's secular project. (Ezzat 25 Sept. 2020, emphasis in original)
In its verdict on the case of the two women social media influencers [discussed in section 2.1.2 of this Response], the Cairo Economic Court was cited by HRW as having stated that laws on online activities "do not restrict free expression but are necessary to address 'deviant ideas' and 'moral degradation'" (HRW 17 Aug. 2020). According to statements made by the prosecution [in Arabic] and cited by the same source, the criminal proceedings against women social media influencers in Egypt since April 2020 were based on the morality clause of the 2018 cybercrime law, and investigations into the social media activities of the women were, "in some cases," launched in response to complaints posted on the prosecution's Facebook page regarding the videos (HRW 17 Aug. 2020).
In another case reported by sources, a woman social media influencer was arrested following accusations of "'stirring up instincts'" (MEMO 19 Apr. 2022) or for having "'undermined the values and family principles of the Egyptian society'" (HRW 17 Aug. 2020). HRW states that the woman's arrest came after a hisba complaint was filed by an Egyptian lawyer for "'publishing sexually provocative videos on TikTok'" (HRW 17 Aug. 2020).
3. State Protection
3.1 Political and Legislative Measures
A UNDP report from 2018 that provides a gender-based analysis of law and justice in Egypt notes the existence of ministerial decrees that limit women's right to work in a number of occupations, including those "deemed morally inappropriate" (UN 2018, 9). However, US Country Reports 2021 states that on 19 April 2021, gender-based restrictions on labour were removed; these had previously barred women from "working in the evenings" and from holding certain jobs, namely those that involved "manufacturing spirits, fireworks, fertilizers, pesticides, [or] asphalt," as well as "painting metals," handling "radioactive substances," or moving machinery (US 12 Apr. 2022, 69).
Sources report that a law granting the right to anonymity to survivors of sexual crimes who report said crimes was passed in 2020 (Reuters 29 Dec. 2020; BBC 9 July 2020). According to media sources, the country's highest Muslim religious authority, al-Azhar [Mosque], encouraged women to report violations and condemned the targeting of women based on their clothing (The Washington Post 31 July 2020; BBC 9 July 2020).
The WCGLA representative indicated that measures in place for the protection of women's rights in Egypt are "almost all window dressing [rather than] substance," unless accompanied by "additional pressure" and support from NGOs like the WCGLA, international organizations or the media (WCGLA 11 Apr. 2022). In an article published by Alternative Policy Solutions [4], author Nada Wahba, a researcher at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, reported that in 2020 Egypt's NCW encouraged survivors and witnesses in what is known as the "Fairmont rape case" [5] to come forward with their testimony under the protection of anonymity provided by the recent Criminal Procedures Code amendment (Wahba 7 Mar. 2021). However, the same source indicates that some witnesses who obliged were later arrested and held in pre-trial detention, after which the NCW "fell silent" (Wahba 7 Mar. 2021).
3.1.1 NCW
According to a presentation on its website, the NCW was created in 2000 by Presidential Decree 90 and serves as an "[i]ndependent [m]achinery" of the government, empowered to set its own structure and mandates in accordance with Law No. 30/2018 (Egypt [2021], 4). The same source notes that the NCW's responsibilities include the following:
- propose and draft national plans
- coordinate and evaluate the implementation of national policies
- propose policies and legislation
- receive and assess complaints regarding rights and freedoms violations against women
- refer these complaints to the relevant authorities and assist in resolving them
- provide judicial assistance (Egypt [2021], 5).
An article in Egypt Today notes that the NCW indicated that "all" complaints are received and "the necessary assistance" provided by telephone or hotline (Egypt Today 4 Jan. 2022). According to US Country Reports 2021, in September 2021, a decree from Egypt's prime minister called for the establishment of governorate-level units across the country "to coordinate and improve integrated survivor-centered services to women" (US 12 Apr. 2022, 51). A September 2021 article from Egypt Today indicates that the initiative, which had yet to be implemented, would aim to bring together "in one place" the services provided by all government bodies working on violence against women; its headquarters were planned to be in Cairo, with branches in governorates (Egypt Today 2 Sept. 2021). The same article adds that the unit would be "affiliated with the Cabinet" and would include the NCW and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) as well as the ministries of Justice, Interior, Health and Population, and Social Solidarity (Egypt Today 2 Sept. 2021). Information on the initiative's implementation could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
According to the WCGLA representative, the NCW provides "very little" recourse for women who experience mistreatment (WCGLA 11 Apr. 2022). Other sources stated that the NCW is "controlled" by the state (Associate Professor 4 Apr. 2022) or aligns its priorities with those of the state, rendering it "ineffective" in advancing and protecting women's rights (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022). Regarding its response to the arrests of women social media influencers since April 2020, HRW states that the NCW did not release statements or announce any initiative in support of the women (HRW 17 Aug. 2020). Wahba states that both the NCW's "actions and inactions" raise "valid questions" about whether the Council is "merely another arm of the state" (Wahba 7 Mar. 2021). The same source notes that, in 2020, the NCW was "silen[t]" on the series of arrests of "middle- and low-income" women TikTok users under the cybercrime laws, but focused much of its media monitoring report on "the portrayal of women using foul language and smoking in Ramadan TV shows," and "celebrated" and "publicized" article 25 of the Cybercrime Law on their social media platforms (Wahba 7 Mar. 2021). The source adds the NCW "seems to be adopting the state's stance in punishing citizens, disproportionally women, for their 'immorality'" (Wahba 7 Mar. 2021).
3.2 Judiciary
In their interview with TIMEP, the EIPR representative described that access to justice for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence
totally depends on the circumstances under which the situation of violence happened and the profile of the woman who is going to make the complaint—which class [she is] from, what lifestyle she has, what she looks like[—]and whoever is going to take her complaint from the police or the prosecution. Basically her profile is what defines her case, not the law. If they see her as a "good" victim or think that she "didn’t deserve it," then she may receive help. The environment is not hospitable and the situation is not very comfortable; you have to talk to lots and lots of men, and explain over and over what happened to you. Usually, they don't have any sensitivity training, so their questions and the way they deal with the victim is terrible. (TIMEP 25 Mar. 2022)
According to the Assistant Professor, there is no "specific" mechanism by which women who face mistreatment by authorities in the judiciary or in the police can file a complaint, including if they were mistreated because of how they were dressed (Assistant Professor 19 Apr. 2022). In responding to a question from TIMEP about the obstacles to women's access to equal rights in Egypt, the EIPR representative described a "pattern" since 2020 of legal cases against women influencers on Tiktok with investigations "push[ed]" by the State, noting that the public prosecutor has indicated "very clear[ly]" that his mandate not only includes the application of the law, but also extends to protecting family values and ensuring "that Egyptians are following good morals" (TIMEP 25 Mar. 2022). The same source added that the public prosecutor has developed "a new mandate" called "'social state security'," an "institutional[ized]" form of government "intervention in personal life," which the EIPR representative indicated is not codified "in any law" (TIMEP 25 Mar. 2022).
3.3 Police and Security Forces
Information on state protection measures available for women who do not conform to accepted Muslim practices and traditions and who experience mistreatment at the hands of police and security forces was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
In their interview with TIMEP, the EIPR representative described the following obstacles for filing a complaint of sexual and gender-based violence with the police:
If it was sexual harassment on the street, for example—you have to take the harasser to the police station somehow. Then you make a complaint and he makes a counter-complaint. So both of you spend the night in the police station. And that has been continuously one of the main reasons women drop their complaints, because they don't want to spend a night at the station. (TIMEP 25 Mar. 2022)
The WCGLA representative indicated that authorities will do "little or nothing" to protect women who are "harassed" by society "for not being 'good' Muslims," and women who file complaints for such acts with the police are, "in almost all cases," met with a "wink and a nod," with no follow-up or enforcement of the law based on the complaint (WCGLA 11 Apr. 2022). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
Notes
[1] The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) is an Egyptian human rights organization that provides legal assistance, conducts research and is involved in advocacy work; it has been "targeted" by the authorities for arrests, raids, and interrogations in various incidents since 2015 (TIMEP 20 Nov. 2020).
[2] Mohamed Chawki, PhD, was Chairman of the International Association of Cybercrime Prevention (Association internationale de lutte contre la cybercriminalité, AILCC) in 2020; his research focuses on national security, cybercrime, and data protection (Chawki 2020, 4).
[3] The 2017 International Men and Gender Equality – Middle East and North Africa (IMAGES MENA) was conducted in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Palestine (UN Women and PromundoUS 2017, ii). The survey was funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and coordinated by the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and Promundo's US office (UN Women and PromundoUS 2017, ii). Promundo is an international organization founded in Brazil that focuses on promoting gender equality and preventing violence through research, advocacy, programs, and other initiatives (UN Women and Promundo-US 2017, ii).
[4] Alternative Policy Solutions is a "non-partisan" public policy research organization at the American University in Cairo (AUC) that produces alternative policy proposals related to economic development, resource management, and institutional reform (Alternative Policy Solutions n.d.).
[5] The Fairmont rape case refers to a 2014 incident in which a woman was sexually assaulted by several men in Cairo's Fairmont Hotel, and which, according to HRW, Egyptian authorities "failed to adequately investigate" (HRW 8 Feb. 2021).
References
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Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: assistant professor at a university in Egypt whose research focuses on labour and care economic, social protection, and family formation issues in the Middle East; assistant professor at a university in the US whose research interests focus on the relationship between political regimes and religious institutions as well as gender, and the development of religious identities in political spaces, notably in Egypt; Egyptian Center for Women's Rights; Human Rights Watch; lawyer affiliated with a firm in Egypt and a think tank in the US whose research focuses on gender and justice in the Middle East and North Africa; Nazra for Feminist Studies; New Woman Foundation; professor at a university in the US whose research focuses on Islamist movements and gender issues in the Arabic-speaking Middle Easter countries, notably Egypt.
Internet sites, including: Ahram Online; The Arab Weekly; Arabic Network for Human Rights Information; Australia – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Brookings Institution; Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies; CBC; Egypt – National Council for Human Rights; Egyptian Center for Women's Rights; Egypt Independent; Fédération internationale pour les droits humains; France – Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides; Nazra for Feminist Studies; UN – Refworld, ReliefWeb; UK – Home Office; Wilson Center.