Egypt: state-sanctioned sexual violence

Image via Al Jazeera English

Egypt has seen a significant surge in sexual violence perpetrated by its own security forces since the military takeover in July 2013, according to a report by FIDH. The report, released in May, details the uses of state-sanctioned sexual violence against opponents of President el-Sisi’s regime, NGO representatives and common-law detainees, amongst other victims. It demonstrates the extension of sexual violence from the public sphere to police, state security and military personnel, and the weaponising of such abuse as an explicit form of state violence.

Interviews conducted with victims tell of sexual abuse ranging from sexual harassment, rape and sexual assault to genital electrocution and sex-based defamation. According to FIDH, sexual violence is used by officials to ‘eliminate public protests’ and ‘legitimise the authorities as guardians of the moral order’. Although women make up a significant number of those suffering the regime, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other political dissidents are also being targeted.

Reports of state-sanctioned sexual violence follow a three-year period of increased mob rapes and sexual assaults following the revolution of January 2011. The FIDH report shows that the actions of the state highlight the increasingly direct role security forces are playing in the perpetration of sexual violence in Egypt. This trend differs significantly from the public announcements made by President el-Sisi’s government claiming their commitment to fighting sexual violence. In a world that is increasingly questioning the legitimacy and trustworthiness of authority, el-Sisi’s government joins a long line of state powers whose actions deeply conflict with their promises.

The history of sexual violence in Egypt does not, however, begin with el-Sisi’s government. As the FIDH report claims, sexual violence is a historic weapon of the Egyptian authorities. Protest movements in the 1990s saw baltagiya (gangs), deployed by the Ministry of the Interior to infiltrate groups of demonstrators, sexually assault women demonstrators with no interference by security forces. The May 2005 ‘Black Wednesday’ is a further example of sexual assault in the presence or knowledge of state officials, including officers of the Ministry of Interior and the riot police.

The history of sexual violence and torture in Egypt showcases the ability of authorities to weaponise such assault with ease. For women, sexual violence threatens to disgrace not only them, but also their families, because of the taboos of sex and its association with shame. Gay and transgender people are increasingly suffering under el-Sisi’s regime of sexual torture, too, demonstrating the intolerance against LGBTQ people despite no laws criminalising same-sex activity or alternative gender identities. For a government acting in the wake of a revolution, with the hopes of Cairo and the wider Egyptian population resting on their shoulders, el-Sisi’s promises to prioritise the fight against sexual violence was a promising start to a potentially revolutionary leadership. The FIDH report, however, has highlighted the false promises and the hypocrisy of the Egyptian government, and is likely to be the start of a further movement to expose and fight against state sexual violence in the country.

Originally published on The Global Panorama.

Silencing a nation: Spain’s anti-protest Gag Law

Photograph via travelwayoflife via Flickr

The Spanish senate passed a bill in March 2015 that will have severe repercussions for the social movements of the country. The Citizen Safety Bill – to go into effect from July 1, 2015 – includes the controversial Ley Mordaza, or ‘Gag Law’. This law makes most forms of social protests illegal, with fines from 600 euros to 600,000 euros imposed for any breach of its terms. As well as limiting its citizens’ legal ability to protest, the ‘Gag Law’ will affect social media and the press. It will, in short, have a huge impact upon a body of people who have been protesting against their country’s austerity for years.

The Spanish people have been using protests for three years to amplify their voices against the right-wing Partido Popular (People’s Party) government. Demonstrations have risen and intensified over the party’s severe austerity measures and their conservative stance on abortion, which aims to limit abortion to cases of rape or serious health risk. In the wake of the 2008 financial crash, Spain was pushed into economic crisis, and the government’s response to this has led to a large number of protests – some violent – against the consequential austerity measures. The ‘Gag Law’, by limiting the number of acceptable forms of protest, therefore, takes steps to silence anti-austerity demonstrators – the indignados movement – by restricting their capacity to object.

Some of the most popular forms of protest favoured by the indignados movement will be penalised under the law. Protestors will be banned from assembling outside Congress and other government buildings – a rule that can cost dissenters up to 6,00,000 euros if broken. Permission must be sought from authorities before public gatherings can be arranged. The law also affects media coverage and social media activity. Filming or photographing police manoeuvres, and indeed publishing pictures of them will be considered a criminal offence. Online activity is seen to promote or publicise a political event – for example, by using hashtags – will also be illegal. As a huge and effective platform on which anti-austerity organisations can communicate their messages, censoring social media is a major step towards silencing the virtual narrative of dissent underlying the protestors’ real lives.

The ‘Gag Law’ has, of course, been met with outrage. Since the first mention of the bill in late 2014, thousands have joined in solidarity to show their discontent. Their perception of the bill as being harmful to citizens’ free speech has been shown by protestors’ use of gags: the Citizen Safety Bill has been reimagined and renamed to reflect the damaging nature of a legislation used to silence a country’s people. Recently, the world’s first virtual demonstration was staged against the bill in Madrid – a clear reaction to the government’s opposition to ‘flesh-and-blood’ protests. Thousands of holograms marched outside the Spanish parliamentary building on April 11 in a somewhat eerie demonstration organised by the group Holograms for Freedom.

The ‘Gag Law’, and by extension the Spanish government, will impose censorship on people’s virtual as well as their social lives. In a time where protests are the key tool available to social movements against austerity, the bill strongly impacts the Spanish people’s capacity to speak and drastically limits their power. It is the latest act of a right-wing government that drives towards austerity in the face of constant financial uncertainty.

Originally published on The Global Panorama.