(Cairo 22nd of July 2020) New facts in the case of ‘Farha’, known in the media as the “Rape of a Farshout girl,” emphasizes the importance of working to provide and develop victims’ protection policies, as Farha spent last night in the police station because of fear despite a judicial ruling that restored her right.
On the day of her victory, in which she was supposed to rejoice and finally breathe after two years of investigations and trial, it turned into another night at the police station after she sent a pleading message to a press site asking security and concerned authorities to protect her as the families of the three defendants referred their papers to the Mufti asking about her whereabouts and her family.
The Ministry of the Interior, represented by the police, responded by going immediately to Farha’s house to investigate, but she requested protection at the police department instead.
‘Farshout girl’ had been subjected to several threats to push her to withdraw her case since the start of legal procedures and the trial, as well as threats after her appearance in the “Hekayat Nehad ‘Nehad’s Stories’” TV show presented by Nehad Abulkomsan, senior lawyer, on Al Qahera Wel Nas TV channel in an episode entitled “Rape Cases and Breaking the Silence”, which was less than two weeks before the ruling.
The “Farshout Girl” case, which was kidnapped and raped during 2018, reveals her determination to take her right legally and report. She took all the necessary legal measures until yesterday a ruling was issued to refer the three defendants’ papers to the Mufti, and she continued and did not concede despite her family’s exposure to threats by the families of the accused. This is to the extent that they left the village and moved to another place due to fear of the threats, but the families of criminals continue to track their location.
Based on the distress and pleading requests by the Farshout girl to the security authorities, we also appeal to the security services to protect her and her mother.
Nehad Abulkomsan, Senior lawyer and the chairwoman of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), stresses the need for developing a permanent legal mechanism to protect victims.
This can be achieved through units committed to fight violence against women in the security directorates, and centers for hosting women subjected to violence in the Ministry of Social Solidarity to provide support and protection for women from revenge by the families of the perpetrators.
ECWR also calls on all the concerned authorities to help the Farshout girl to resume her role in society and to live a normal life and help her to complete her education and provide her with a safe and dignified life.
