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Sisi’s rule has undermined women’s rights in Egypt, eight NGOs conclude

Violence against women is on the rise and the majority of women remain victims of female genital mutilation
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his wife, Entissar Amer, attended a celebration honouring Egyptian women and mothers in Cairo on 21 March 2018 (AFP)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his wife, Entissar Amer, attended a celebration honouring Egyptian women and mothers in Cairo on 21 March 2018 (AFP)

Eight non-governmental organisations said in a new submission to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that the status of women has deteriorated in Egypt over the past five years under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, despite his claim of being a champion of women’s rights.

Titled "The Crisis of Women’s and Girls’ Rights in Egypt", the stakeholder submission covers the period from 2019 to 2024 and was published last week ahead of Egypt’s human rights review before the UNHRC on 28 January.

This marks Egypt's fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a peer-review process conducted every four to five years to evaluate and recommend improvements to human rights situations across UN member states.

In the third UPR, Egypt received 82 recommendations on women’s rights, particularly personal status laws, violence, and discrimination. While Egypt accepted 70 of these recommendations, the report noted a worsening situation for women and girls in Egypt based on documented evidence from 2019 to 2024.

The joint submission was prepared by eight prominent human rights organisations and women’s rights groups, including the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance, Bar Aman Initiative, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, New Woman Foundation, Tadwein for Gender Studies, Barah Amen, Transat, and the Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa.

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Data cited by the report shows that violence against women in the private sphere increased over the past year, with 17 percent of ever-married women experiencing physical or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV), up from 14 percent 10 years ago, when Sisi first assumed office. 

Violence, FGM, censorship

The report noted the absence of comprehensive legislation addressing violence against women as well as the lack of services and protective measures by the state to counter the practice and protect victims. Marital rape is not criminalised in the country, effectively denying victims of IPV access to justice, the report added.

The report cited the well-publicised Fairmont gang rape incident, which took place in 2014 but was not investigated until video evidence emerged in 2020. Authorities have failed to bring the accused rapists to justice, and the prosecution detained witnesses and charged them with “habitual debauchery” on suspicions of homosexuality, “misuse of social media”, “threatening public security” and “spreading false news”. The case was eventually dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

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The Sisi-sponsored national strategy for women aims to reduce the rate of previously married women subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) to 55 percent by 2030. However, a 2021 official survey revealed that the rate for all women stood at 86 percent. Those who underwent FGM also are not entitled to any compensation or reparation, the report added.

Although the government has amended anti-FGM laws to penalise parents, these punitive measures have not curbed the practice. Instead, they discourage families from reporting or seeking medical aid for victims, the report said, adding that the practice has become largely medicalised as parents illegally resort to medical professionals.

Over the past five years, a new pattern of criminalising women’s freedom of expression has emerged, with the Public Prosecution using the charge of “infringing on Egyptian family values” to prosecute social media users, particularly TikTok influencers with a large following such as Haneen Hossam and Mawada el-Adham.

“Prosecution has been accompanied by sharp and preaching rhetoric in official statements by the public prosecution, offering moral advice to Egyptians, especially women, regarding optimal personal behavior,” the report said.

Meanwhile, abortion is prohibited under the penal code, forcing women and girls to risk their health and lives in unsafe abortions.

Low spending on education

The report also highlighted the lack of government spending on women’s education.

During the reporting period, Sisi's government has not adhered to the constitutional mandate for education spending, which requires allocating at least 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to pre-university education, 2 percent to university education and 1 percent to scientific research.

'Prosecution has been accompanied by sharp and preaching rhetoric...offering moral advice to Egyptians, especially women, regarding optimal personal behavior'

- Universal Periodic Review

In 2024, total spending on all stages of education and research dropped to 1.94 percent, compared to 4.9 percent from 2014 to 2015. This marked the lowest level since the constitutional requirement was established, falling to less than a third of the mandated amount.

According to the report, this shortfall has exacerbated the gender literacy gap, particularly in border provinces, due to a lack of social, cultural and economic interventions aimed at narrowing gender disparities. 

The report shed light on the absence of programmes for adult education and continuous learning alongside educational environments that fail to cater to target age groups. According to a 2022 Labor Force Survey by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (Capmas), female illiteracy stands at 22.8 percent, compared to 12.4 percent for men.

The report noted that despite increased parliamentary representation for women as a constitutional right - only one parliamentary committee is chaired by a woman, compared to 26 chaired by men. Women are often coerced into voting for state-backed candidates in exchange for economic incentives.

The most recent cabinet reshuffle included only four female ministers out of 26, and just one woman serves as governor among the 27 governorates.

Meanwhile, women’s unemployment rate stands at 18.4 percent, compared to 5 percent for men. Many women have left the labour market due to numerous barriers and are not counted in official unemployment statistics.

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