Fatal stabbings highlight violence against women

A series of violent crimes against women in Egypt has drawn attention to gaps in legal and social protections that leave female citizens vulnerable to attacks and harassment, victims and activists say.
The highest profile case was the murder in late June of 21-year-old student Nayera Ashraf, who was stabbed 19 times outside the gates of a university in Mansoura, north of Cairo. It emerged that the man convicted for her killing, Mohamed Adel, had been harassing her for almost a year after she rejected his marriage proposal.
Her death gained coverage across the Middle East, and drew attention to other violent crimes against women in Egypt. The reaction also built on a campaign against sexual abuse among Egypt’s elite in 2020, partly inspired by the international “#MeToo” movement.
Activists say it is hard to measure the extent of gender-based violence in Egypt, where cultural practices have often prevented abused women from coming forward. Most cases are believed to go unreported.
A study by Egypt’s Edraak Foundation for Development and Equality (EFDE), a non-governmental organisation, recorded 813 crimes of violence against women and girls mentioned in media reports and statements from the public prosecutor in 2021, up from 415 in 2020.
Victims and lawyers say that those who did seek help from authorities had not always received it.