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.

India's unreported police brutality

Photograph by nevil zaveri via Flickr

On April 15, 2014, India’s Supreme Court recognised the country’s transgender community as individuals in their own right. It passed a law that declared the transgender community to be a third gender. The law was regarded as a significant step forward on the civil rights front, and became a talking point for those looking to introduce similar laws in some European countries who had not already done so.

The law came only four months after the Supreme Court re-criminalised homosexuality and bisexuality, which led to a considerable increase in police violence against transgender people across the country. This re-criminalisation is still in place, presenting a danger in the LGBTQ community: while transgender people do have legal recognition, it is still against the law for them to engage in gay sex.

Following the Supreme Court’s recognition of the transgender community, there have been issues around implementing the law, particularly with regards to the fundamental rights transgender people should, by the court’s ruling, enjoy. In an interview with DW, Jayshree Bajoria, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, called attention to abusive colonial-era laws still underlying some Indian states today that make transgender people vulnerable to police abuse.

Transgender people in India have often had to engage in begging and sex work due to the lack of opportunities available to them in working life, and these activities can increase their susceptibility to police abuse. In November 2014, the Indian police detained 167 transgender women in a beggars’ colony in Bangalore. The police claimed that the event was part of a ‘crackdown’ on public begging, but a report from Orinam claimed that many of the women detained were going about their daily chores; some were allegedly dragged out of their homes by the police. Orinam speculates that the ‘crackdown’ merely disguised the police’s real objective to target transgender women in general.

Newspaper reports on the Supreme Court’s recent decisions concerning transgender rights have been decidedly vague about the levels of police violence against the community in India. Most reports refer to a general increase in police abuse of transgender people, but give no specific details. Even Amnesty International’s annual report at the end of 2014 was unable to elaborate on the issue, claiming only that since the ruling in April 2014, ‘cases of harassment and violence against transgender people continued to be reported.’ It is notoriously difficult to find details about specific cases demonstrating the issue many transgender people face in India. This is perhaps a reflection of the conservative position news avenues continue to take when addressing the plight of LGBTQ people in India, no matter how liberal they may otherwise be.

Originally published on The Global Panorama.