Section three: Violence against women:
Women suffered in 2013 from many forms of violence, either political violence or social violence. Forms of political violence against women:
1- Muslim Brotherhood and using women during their protests and sit-ins:
Women’s cause and their rights to protest, and attack that women experience during protest, are the most the most prominent signs of transformation and change of the Muslim Brotherhood phase, and discoloration of their attitude.
Their double standards were clear to everyone, especially regarding women rights. No one can forget that during the rule of the ousted President Mohamed Morsi, the Regime was speaking with male formula, in addition to male content that dominated all Muslim Brotherhood marches, and their claims indicating that voice of women is similar to nakedness, that women should not enter men society, stressing that women only belong to their households. They also accused women political activists who demonstrated against Morsi, that they are financed from abroad.
Manal Abu el-Hassan, Secretary of Women Affaris in Freedom and Justice Party, said that women who participate in protests, to defend their rights, are violating their dignity, she added “do they have husbands or brothers to defend them?” she also released a statement describing the march of “Haraer” or free women which was organized to denounce attacking women, saying that the protesters are financed and have their own agenda, claiming that all of the women who participated in that march were not a part in the revolution.
Women rights committee in the Shura Council which had majority from the Islamic current stated in February 11th 2013 that women political activists, who suffered from sexual harassment during the participation in the second anniversary of 2011 revolution, caused themselves this kind of attack because they participated in protests side to side with men.
But after the ousting of Morsi Muslim Brotherhood women became in the front row of all the group calls demanding the return of Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood men used to using women as human shields for their leaders. In addition that woman were a part of the Rabaa el-Adawia “not peaceful” sit-in, during this period Muslim Brotherhood said that women participation is part of their duties to defend legitimacy, women voices became the engine of all marches after the brotherhood described them as nakedness.
The Muslim Brotherhood using women during the sit-ins in Rabaa and Nahda was obvious, they used women as human shields in marches front rows, and they also exploited women sexually in what the group described as “jihad al-nikah” or sexual jihad.
Following we list some of those violations.
List of violation forms that women and children were exposed to during Rabaa el-Adawia and Nahda sit-ins:
- Using women as human shields
During the Muslim Brotherhood marches after the ousting of Morsi, the group kept women in the front rows, even when women were attacked the brotherhood benefited from their suffering, like what happened during Morsi supporters march in Mansoura City, when thugs killed three women.
- Sexual harassment
Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, listed after the second wave of the Egyptian revolution in June 30th, 100 sexual harassment cases on the sidelines of anti-Morsi protests, groups that condemn sexual harassment like ” Op Anti-Sexual Harassment/Assault” that monitors these kind of cases in Tahrir Square, the group released a statement saying they denounce using their data for political gain and objectives, adding that Presidency ignored these attacks last year, and held women responsible for being the target of sexual harassment.
- Jihad al-nikah
In the light of what we know about “jihad al-nikah” or sexual jihad we find that the Muslim Brotherhood abducted and forced women to perform jihad al-nikah, as the following:
- A housewife filed a report that women wearing “niqap” tried to abduct her in order to present her to men in the Rabaa el-Adawia sit-in to be a part of sexual jihad. The housewife was walking when these women frisked her and offered her money so she joins the sit-in and when she refused they held her hostage in Orman Park and investigated her to know why she support Sisi and told her that they will take her to the men to perform sexual jihad then they beat her up causing injuries in her face, neck and a deep cut in her head, but she managed to escape.
- Two girls who belong to the Islamic current filed two reports in Nasr City Police Station saying that men tried to attack them sexually during their presence in Rabaa el-Adawia sit-in, in the pretext of sexual jihad.
- The marches and protests of the ousted president supporters focused on poor women and exploiting the categories of people who benefit from the Muslim Brotherhood Associations.
- The protests of the ousted president supporters are now depending on female college students who organized marches at 7 a.m. they cut off the road and stopped traffic which caused anger to residents and the whole situation developed to verbal arguments then attacking people who pass by the marches and shop owners. Women who organized these kind of marches were arrested and referred to Misdemeanor Court in charges of blocking the road and thugery, the Alexandria Misdemeanor Court sentenced 21 of female Muslim Brotherhood, who participated in blocking road in Alexandria, to be imprisoned for 11 years for adults, while the underage were sentenced to detention in one of the Juvenile Welfare houses. Then the sentences were reduced to months reaching maximum the period of one year, the sentences were halted for the sake of the students future.
- The violence committed by the Muslim Brotherhood female students escalated in eight Egyptian Universities, it reached the phase of attacking professors especially in Al-Azhar University, in addition to attacking other students to force them to stop the education process in an attempt to prove that the campaign of boycotting education succeeded.
- Female Muslim Brotherhood students’ violence reached the point of attacking the staff and reached the point that these students ripped off the clothes of two female professors and videotaped them naked and broadcasted the videos online, authorities are still investigating these incidents.
