Richael
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After months of accusations of violent mistreatment towards women by Amnesty International, a senior general in the Egyptian military confirmed to the American media earlier this week that virginity tests had been performed during protests in Tahrir Square earlier this week.
The reasoning given for performing these tests? The military wanted to protect itself from accusations of sexual assault or rape during the revolution by proving that the female protesters weren’t virgins in the first place.
Saying that these women “were not like your daughter or mine. These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters” would be a shocking statement in most areas of the Western world. However, as the Christian Science Monitor points out, it is more than typical of the Egyptian mindset towards women:
In truth, virginity tests are an all too common practice in Egypt, as they are in many areas of the Middle East. Many brides seek hymenoplasty, or hymen restoration, to ensure that their reputation is protected come wedding night.“The anonymous general’s words reveal a frightening but not surprising attitude for people who know Egypt. His suggestion that if they weren’t virgins then they couldn’t be the victims of rape is telling, as is his implication that “nice” girls wouldn’t be treated that way. Many Egyptians are deeply conservative about the role of women in society, and would share his views that it wasn’t appropriate for women to be present at mixed protests in the first place.” June 1, 2011
While for many Egyptians, the fall of the regime of Mubarak signaled a new beginning for Egypt, it does not appear as though much will change for the country’s female population. Women, who faced years of abuse and discrimination during Mubarak’s reign, rejoiced at the idea of more equality between the sexes. However, the military has indicated that they intend to restrict women’s power in government even more intensely. The military council that is ruling the country before it is prepared to take to the ballot box has entirely excluded women from the constitutional committee that is essentially developing an entirely new political process. Furthermore, one of the gains over the past few decades in Egypt, the advent of constitutional quotas holding seats for women in the lower house of parliament, may be eliminated.
It appears that the hopes that the Egyptian protestors had for themselves as they stood for weeks in Tahrir Square may be denied to half of the population, as the ruling military seems intent to take two steps backwards instead of forward. While the protestors stood for liberty and equality after years of denied freedom on the part of the government, women will have to settle for only liberty, and potentially not even liberty at all. The treatment of women during the protests – including not only subjection to virginity tests, but also electrocution and other forms of torture, has sent a clear message to Egyptian women from the new ruling powers, as described by the Christian Science Monitor: ‘“We will physically violate you and call you whores if you life up your voices. And we’ll get away with it”’.
That is something that must be protested, and must be changed.
