Hear Her Cries

EGYPT

A Coptic cross atop a church in Luxor at sunset.

For decades Coptic Christian women have been kidnapped and subjected to physical and psychological abuse, including rape, imprisonment, violence and forced servitude ― often under the cover of marriage. Perpetrators are rarely pursued by authorities. 34 Although the international community recognizes this phenomenon ― indeed UK Home OfÀce guidance makes it clear that “Coptic Christian women in Egypt… face difÀculties additional to other women, in the form of sometimes being the target of disappearances, forced abduction and forced conversion” 35 ― Egyptian authorities are highly dismissive of these cases. The usual narrative from government spokespersons is that the vast majority concern young women eloping with someone from another religion. 36 Egypt’s reluctance to acknowledge these abductions comes despite two signiÀcant studies. The Àrst of these, published more than a decade ago, provides

Àrst-hand evidence from women who were kidnapped, or otherwise lured into marriage, and abused. The research by Prof Michele Clark and Nadia Ghaly showed:

i) Numerous cases involving forced kidnappings.

ii) A repeated pattern of women enticed into relationships only to encounter exploitation.

The latter category often involves young women being lured into a coercive relationship under the guise of romance. 37 Cases like R.’s, who, feeling trapped in an unhappy marriage, left to live with Ahmed, who offered to marry her. But she was locked up and told that if she tried to escape she would be killed. 38 After eloping, girls often discover they have been tricked, but by then they are powerless. Captors have even taken videos of them being sexually abused to induce shame and deter girls from trying to return to their families. 39

12 | HEAR HER CRIES