01/03/2019 Egypt (International Christian Concern) – A video filmed in Mansura, north of Cairo, showed an Egyptian woman wearing a skirt and fur coat being sexually assaulted on New Year’s Eve by a mob of men. The name of the woman is not yet public information. However, the police did arrest seven people in connection with the incident.
Sexual assaults on women are a common occurrence in Egypt. As an Islamic country, there are strict social rules regulating how women present themselves in public. Since the largest concentration of Christians in the Middle East reside in Egypt, these rules can be very difficult for Christian women. Many wear headscarves and dress in black simply to blend into the Islamic society to protect themselves from potential attacks.
Since the name of the victim in this incident is not public, one cannot immediately classify this assault as an incident of religious persecution. However, video of the incident is widespread throughout Egypt and comes just days before Christians celebrate Coptic Christmas. It does little to bolster the confidence of Christian women to live as they’d like, rather than under the strict social rules of an Islamic system.
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