The circle of hell : Inside Tahrir’s mob sexual assault epidemic
Cet article revient sur les viols collectifs survenus sur la place Tahrir. On note depuis plusieurs mois que ce sont toujours les mêmes procédés, même si depuis peu, il y a de plus en plus de victimes (19 victimes en 3 heures lors du second anniversaire de la Révolution) et que les attaques sont plus violentes.
A ce jour, aucune arrestation selon cet article, qui remet ce phénomène en perspectives.
“The context of Tahrir is political and the attacks that happen there are probably organised,” argues Ghozlan.
“The question is, why is it only taking place in Tahrir Square?” Tallima asked. “Why not in front of the presidential palace [where many demonstrations have taken place] or during other large marches? Tahrir is targeted. It is the symbol of the revolution and they want to break it.”
Tallima argues that counter-revolutionaries have been trying for months to damage the image of the square. He said that during the notorious ’Battle of the Camel’ in February 2011, the regime used Egyptians from the poor suburb of Nazlet El-Saman to wield an attack on the square to empty it of protesters.
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“One girl was raped with a knife. The horrifying nature of this attack and others do not give any sexual gratification unless you are a sadist,” El-Shafie said. “And they cannot all be sadists. The aim is to give women the worst experience possible so that they will never go back again.”
If the new gang attacks on women are a political weapon, it would not be the first time it is used in Egypt.
Politician Gamila Ismail was assaulted in 2001 when she was running for parliament against a member of Mubarak’s now dissolved National Democratic Party.
“I was attacked by 17 ex-convict women in front of the polling station,” recalls Ismail.
“The judges, supervising the elections, saw the attack. I even saw state security officers directing the attack.”
In 2005, several female reporters and journalists were beaten and stripped during an anti-regime protest in front of the Journalists Syndicate.
“The government took no action against this attack. It was clear that the state was sanctioning terrorism and intimidation of women,” said Said Sadek, political sociologist at the American University in Cairo (AUC).
The state, says Sadek, has been using sexual humiliation to crackdown on opponents for years. Neither men nor women are spared. He cites the case of Emad El-Kebeer, a microbus driver who was sodomized by two police officers in 2007. To humiliate him, they recorded the act.
“It was videotaped and spread in his area on purpose to humiliate him,” Sadek said. “This is called the shame culture.”
The government’s lack of response in the recent Tahrir gang assaults also raises question marks, says Sadek.
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“I don’t think their tactic will scare women, but definitely any woman who goes to Tahrir must know the consequences,” says Ghozlan. “You may get shot, you may get tear gassed and you may also get raped and sexually assaulted.”