Since July 2020, several cases of harassment and rape have been revealed in Egypt, especially on social media, which encouraged victims to break their silence.
Meanwhile, however, the voice of migrant women, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, remains absent and dominated by fear and anxiety.
Writer Mona Allam said, in the report published by the French website "Orient XXI", that Amal does not forget the picture of the man hanging on one of the walls of the house in which she was working in Cairo.
This 30-year-old mother has not seen her husband in years.
The two spouses have been imprisoned by the Sudanese regime because of their race, and have never met again.
The young woman was one month pregnant at the time, but that did not make her safe from beatings and sexual assault while in detention in Sudan.
These memories still cause her tears, but she does not want to go into details.
Meanwhile, Amal's release occurred two weeks later, but she has not heard any news about her husband since.
The writer indicated that Amal preferred to flee with her children to Egypt.
At first she stayed with a friend who lived in Cairo with her husband and children, but they could not bear her presence for a long time, especially since she was pregnant.
A week later, they drove her out into the street, she said.
Migrants who arrive in Cairo usually live in low-income neighborhoods such as Faisal Street, Ard El Lewa, or the 10th district of Nasr City, which are areas where thefts and assaults are common, especially at night by tuk-tuks drivers.
In addition, this risk is almost 10 times higher for African migrants, in addition to racist attacks.
With the help of another friend who agreed to host her with her children, Amal eventually found a job, as she became a houseworker.
The family that she lives in consists of the lady of the house, her son, her daughter and her husband, the man whose picture was hung on the wall of the house.
On one occasion, the "lady" left the house on a travel trip, so that the husband, who is a high-ranking man, took advantage of his wife's absence to rape her.
The writer indicated that Amal left the house forever after being dominated by fear and pain, and she also did not tell anyone about the bitter experience that she went through. I was afraid".
Amal also spent consecutive nights without closing an eyelid for fear of his threats, saying, "I spent weeks in a state of shock."
According to the neurologist and psychologist Jida Makki, from Alexandria University, sexual crimes are based on a relationship of domination, as the perpetrator seeks to prove his control more than his search for a source of pleasure.
For this reason, these practices are often of people who are elderly, stronger, or more senior.
For her, a rape victim can suffer "severe nerve trauma" that requires medical intervention.
Moreover, the symptoms vary from case to case, and range from anxiety, panic, phobias, or even a rapid heart rate, visual disturbances, sleep disturbances, frequent nightmares, in addition to flashbacks that the victim invokes again upon awakening.
The author added that most victims could not bear to wait to recover from this trauma.
In this context, Amal was forced to find work to provide for her children, as the help she received from an association that helps refugees was not enough.
From a previous demonstration against harassment in Egypt (Reuters)
Repeated rape
The author indicated that this rape, in which Amal was the victim, was not the only operation. In the summer of 2020, Amal found a job offer consisting of cleaning a villa for one day for 300 Egyptian pounds.
This villa belonged to a married couple, and at one point the lady left the house on the grounds that she would not be late, but was already delayed for some time.
Amal found herself alone with the 50-year-old owner of the villa, who took advantage of the opportunity and asked Amal to massage him while wearing underwear, and when she refused, he threatened her that if she refused to do so, she would not be paid after a full day's work.
At the time, Amal only had 12 pounds in her pocket.
She walked towards the main street, which was almost deserted, at 4 pm, and suddenly 3 young men stopped her way.
"They took me to a house under construction and I was beaten and raped by the three of them. I tried to scream, but they prevented me from doing that, and no one was able to help me," she says.
The effects of the violence are still visible on Amal's arm, and she still suffers from pain in her wrist.
Also, she was injured in the upper thighs, and she said that the next day her body was all covered in bruises.
Amal was convinced that the man who owned the villa was the one who sent her these three young men to block her path. She says in this context, "They told me you are not obedient," and they threatened to accuse her of stealing from the villa if she spoke about the operation.
The writer added that Amal's teenage daughter was also assaulted.
One day, on her way home from school, young men followed her, trying to force her into their car.
Fortunately, the girl was eventually rescued by a passerby who heard her screaming.
On the other hand, the effects of this accident and the scratches are still visible on her arms, and the girl is still living under the impact of a trauma that she cannot overcome.
In addition, the girl now refuses to go to school and is afraid to even leave the house, and also suffers from periodic anxiety attacks.
Nobody Dares
The author pointed out that Amal's story is not unique.
In fact, many African refugee women in Egypt suffer from a similar fate, as their precarious situation made them easy victims, without the aggressor being punished.
In 2018, according to a UNHCR report entitled "The Egyptian Response Plan for Refugees and Asylum Seekers from Sub-Saharan Africa, Iraq and Yemen", about 1,231 sexual assaults by African, Iraqi and Yemeni victims, or 81% of the total reported assaults, were reported. In one year.
Of these cases, there are approximately 267 cases involving children.
Besides, Amal and her daughter receive psychological counseling from a specialized organization, but the mother "does not notice any improvement."
According to Dr. Jida Makki, the psychological impact of sexual assault is more severe on refugees, because they are far from their countries, and the difficulty increases when the victim does not speak the language of the country, does not have the same beliefs as the host institution, or if her skin color is different.
The author explained that the risk of depression in such cases is greater, as is the case for the feeling of helplessness, which is reinforced by the absence of a safety net that is often embodied in friends or family.
The effect is greater when the victim is young.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, most of the refugees and asylum seekers from African countries in Egypt do not speak Arabic or English, which makes them more vulnerable to isolation and social and economic hardship.
For her part, Amal informed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of the rape for the second time and the assault on her daughter.
She emphasized that the organization does not investigate the matter or contact the police, and that it only provides psychological support to the victims.
Slow death
The economic instability caused by the outbreak of the new Corona virus has further worsened the situation.
Amal is currently unemployed and takes psychological follow-up sessions only over the phone.
It should be noted that Amal has not paid the rent for 4 months, and it is now £ 1,250, which leaves the patience of the owner running out.
To feed her children, Amal receives help from the Catholic Church to feed her children, who have been complaining about eating the same food for months.
According to the website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, "80% of the refugees in Egypt live in dire humanitarian conditions and cannot meet their basic needs."
According to the UNHCR website, the lack of funding limits its ability to respond to the needs of refugees, especially in light of the outbreak of the Corona pandemic.
The author confirmed that many refugees live in shared apartments.
According to a 2018 study by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 60 percent of study participants, including Africans, Iraqis and Yemenis, live in group apartments that they rent together.
This housing situation is one of the factors that have contributed to the exacerbation of the phenomenon of sexual assault.
Amal complains of incomprehensible mood swings, which make her nervous at times.
Amal confirms that he did not close her eyelid the night before the author's meeting with her, explaining that she takes antidepressants that did not prevent her from thinking about throwing herself out of the window, in addition to the medications she takes to treat breathing difficulties and heart pain that she suffers from.
All Amal is looking forward to at the moment is to find a job to feed her children.
Amal explains that she has to put up with the sexual harassment practices over her until she can get her salary.
Total impunity for the aggressors
Jida Makki says that the desire for justice and fairness is a sign that the victim is in good health, and her willingness to file a complaint proves that she believes in her right.
On the other hand, the fear of holding the perpetrator accountable means that the victim does not see herself as a human being who has rights, but rather as a machine that must continue to "work" so that life continues.
On the other hand, it is possible that submitting a complaint will cause greater psychological pressure on the victim, because the judicial system and security services are often among the sectors that are dominated by men, and the victim is usually held accountable for part of the responsibility for the crime that occurred to her and it is the one who encouraged the aggressor To harass her, which increases her sense of shame.
Moreover, society puts pressure on the victim, which could push her to commit suicide and end her life.
The author stated that most of the victims of assault or rape with whom she spoke are all "single mothers" or young girls, who arrived in Egypt on their own.
In a society that considers single women as vulnerable because they do not have a bond to protect them, these refugees become victims, and their testimony is often questioned.
Sometimes, the abuser will stalk his victim to her home or spread rumors about her.
And its reputation becomes bad among its neighbors and those close to it.
Children
of rapists Women are not the only victims of rape. Rather, there are children who have come to life as a result of these crimes.
Among these victims is Intisar, a Sudanese refugee and a "single mother" who was forced to do housework in a house where an elderly woman lived.
She was beaten and gang-raped after being imprisoned for several days in the apartment where she was working by a group of young men.
Entissar notes that she received a blow to the head that made her lose consciousness, and she refused to go into detail and said only that when she woke up, she found herself stripped of her clothes and in a terrible condition.
Intissar explains that the validity of her refugee card has expired, so the police refused to register her complaint, which is the same response that the UNHCR provided to the victim, asking her to wait for the renewal of her file.
The author pointed out that after a few weeks, Intissar discovered that she was pregnant.
She went to the doctor to have the abortion, but the medication he prescribed caused complications for her.
In addition, it was not until the sixth month of pregnancy that she discovered other organizations that provide care for refugees whose status has not been resolved.
Intisar was a painful birth due to old complications that she had experienced as a result of a previous rape in a prison in Sudan when she was pregnant.
This is what caused the abortion of her fetus.
According to the lawyer at the Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Support, Mohamed Farhat, there are many obstacles that prevent refugee women from declaring that their children were born as a result of rape, even though legal texts guarantee them this right.
Often times, the personnel responsible for receiving birth certificates will ask for a rape complaint.
On the other hand, victims often refuse to file a complaint, and this is unless the police forces are the ones who refuse to register their complaints.
The author explained that matters get more complicated when the rape occurs during the flight or in the victims' home country.
Hospitals also sometimes refuse to issue birth certificates to mothers when the child is illegitimate.
Likewise, the official can refuse the refugee card as an identity document because he does not know the nature of the children's social status or just because he does not want it.
All these factors contribute to stripping these child victims of their nationality, according to Mohamed Farhat.
With regard to Intissar's relationship with her child, she indicated that she does not know how she can solve this problem, as until this moment she has not filed a complaint to prove paternity, fearing for her reputation, the reputation of her family, and the future of this innocent child.
The author added that the psychiatrist treating Intissar urges her to express her sadness with words or tears.
Because of all the painful conversations that occurred to her, Intissar was unable to cry, as it caused her migraines, in addition to her loss of taste and claustrophobia.
It is noteworthy that the living conditions of Intisar are deteriorating from bad to worse, as the monthly assistance that her family receives does not exceed $ 75 per month.
The author concluded by saying that Intissar had received a written statement from the local branch of the World Food Program informing her of the cancellation of financial aid intended for young mothers.