Egypt: Pharmacist beaten up by colleagues for not wearing hijab freed from jail

An Egyptian woman beaten up by female colleagues because she wasn’t wearing the hijab, and later arrested by security forces, has now been released from prison pending trial.

In October last year a video of Isis Moustafa, then 27, being beaten and dragged along the floor by her hair by her colleagues pulling her hair went viral.

The violent attack, which took place in the Zagazig health centre in the northern governorate of Sharkia, was one of several bullying incidents Isis reported against her co-workers.

But the story took a sinister turn when after she filed a complaint at Zagazig police station, Isis was detained herself and accused of “spreading false news and involvement in a terror group” and “stirring public opinion.”

Three human rights groups called for her immediate release, condemned her arbitrary detention and the fact that she was being treated as a defendant rather than a victim.

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In Egypt, women’s rights advocates have worked hard to highlight that victims of violence, abuse and rape are regularly treated as perpetrators rather than victims whilst the perpetrators themselves are often not held to account.

In May 2020 a 17-year-old girl was arrested after she posted a TikTok video to say that she had been gang raped by a group of men. She was charged with “promoting debauchery.” Following a widespread campaign calling for justice, Menna Abdelaziz was eventually released.

In July 2020 activists campaigned for weeks for authorities to arrest suspects involved in the Fairmont Nile City Hotel gang rape trial as several managed to escape the country.

Authorities eventually arrested four of them but also four witnesses, despite encouraging them to come forward with the offer of confidentiality and protection.

The witnesses were detained for nearly five months during which time they were subject to anal examinations and drug testing and were smeared in the state-run media which claimed they were part of a network of homosexuals spreading AIDS.

One young Egyptian man who accompanied a witness to the police station for support was arrested for his “sexual orientation.”

The public prosecution later released the gang-rape suspects on the grounds that there was not enough evidence to charge them.