Controversy surrounds new Egypt report on forced conversion of Christian women
Nov 12th, 2009 | By Joseph Mayton | Category: Egypt, Featured, News
CAIRO: A new report published by Christian Solidarity International and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights has said Egypt largely ignores the forced conversion of Christian women in the country. The new report has sparked a media frenzy, but the controversial report has many detractors, who argue the coverage of the report does not fully grasp the realities on the ground in the North African country.
The report, titled “The Disappearance, Forced Conversions and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt” documents dozens of cases of Christian women who were kidnapped and forced into marriage, often after being raped.
Research on the report was done in Egypt by American anti-trafficking specialist Michele Clark and Egyptian women’s rights activist Nadia Ghaly. The report argues that the violence against Egyptian Christians corresponds to the internationally recognized definitions of human trafficking.
“The findings of Ms. Ghaly and Ms. Clark are deeply disturbing, and should challenge human rights activists and institutions, especially those whose mandate includes women’s rights and trafficking in persons, to undertake, as a matter of urgency, further research into this form of gender and religious based violence against Coptic women and girls in Egypt,†said CSI CEO Dr. John Eibner, in the preface of the report.
One case in the report stands out. A 17-year-old woman, called “R” in the report, says that she received a phone call from a man who wanted to meet her in a church. After meeting him there, she told investigators that she was drugged and kidnapped. When she refused to marry a man named Mahmoud, someone she did not know, the man’s family allegedly held her down while he raped her. According to her, she began to bleed profusely and can no longer have children as a result.
Investigators interviewed a local priest who claimed there were over 50 cases of forced conversions of Coptic women and girls to Islam and forced marriages to Muslim men in the past year alone from his church.
“The phenomenon of abductions, forced conversions and marriages of Coptic women by Muslim men remains relatively undocumented, under-reported and generally ignored by the international human rights community,†the report states.
But some women’s rights advocates here argue that these are not kidnappings. More often, they see these cases as cries for help by young women in the socially conservative Coptic community, which traces its church to the first century when, by traditional belief, the apostle Mark founded it in Egypt as the first Christian church in history.
In particular, rights activists say the missing young women draw attention to customs among traditional Copts, particularly the lack of access to divorce and the practice of arranged marriages.
“A key reason for the so-called ‘kidnappings’ is that Coptic women have no right to divorce,†said Nahed Abul Komsan, head of the Cairo-based Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, which is the leading women’s rights group in the country.
“This means that if their parents tell them they are going to marry their cousin, they have to submit to this and have no choice . . . So they turn to Islam, not because of a spiritual belief in the religion but because it gives them more of an opportunity to choose their life’s path,†she said.
Once returned to their families the women’s absences often remain unexplained and the ongoing controversy has served as flashpoints for long-simmering tensions between the Coptic and Muslim communities. Some argue that when they get back to their families, they tell of rape and other horrific experiences in order to argue away what had happened.
“It is not necessarily a societal problem; it is more religious issues that face women in our society,†said Abul Komsan. “Women face leaders that force them to do things that they do not have any desire to do. They do certain things, such as running away from their family and converting to Islam, because it is the only way to get out of their designated role their family has for them.â€
Laura, a Coptic woman in her mid-20s living in Alexandria who asked that her surname not be used, agreed. She said that while a few of the kidnappings may be authentic, most of the media reports are based on fabrications made by the families to disguise their daughters’ dissatisfaction.
“We, as Coptic women, have to deal with what our priests tell us and force upon us on a daily basis and often many women just can’t take it any longer so they just leave their families and run off with a Muslim man,†she says.
Muslim leaders have condemned the alleged kidnappings as contrary to Islamic thinking. Al-Azhar grand Sheikh Sayyed Al-Tantawi told Al-Ahram, an Egyptian daily, that “these actions are contrary to Islam and we hope to receive more information concerning alleged kidnappings and would like to have an open dialogue with our Christian brothers and sisters in the country.â€
George Ishaq, a Coptic scholar and head of Kefaya (â€Enoughâ€), the nonviolent opposition movement, says the country’s minority religious groups need assistance if Egypt is to move forward in creating a more just society based on universal rights, not simply those of the Muslim majority.
CSI’s chief has made calls to American President Barack Obama “to encourage Egyptian President Mubarak to take credible measures to combat the trafficking of Christian women and girls.”
BM
Keep advertising off Bikya Masr - donate $1 to allow this to be possible
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sigrun Tømmerås and Deena Khalil, Bikya Masr. Bikya Masr said: Controversy surrounds new Egypt report on forced conversion of Christian women: CAIRO: A new report published b.. http://bit.ly/3IH8OB [...]
Just an another attempt to cover up the rape, murder, abuse and lack of religious freedon in Egypt. Non muslims in Egypt are treated like dogs by Muslims.
Christianity is the bloodiest religion ever existed
1-Christians should read there book before they start talkin about human rights
2-those stories are total lies simply coz only on the planet Quran prevents so while actually the bible commands so please read the quran before u start lying
3-the one who calls himmself an ex-Muslim is a lire he has never been a Muslim christian always do this on the web use Muslim or ex-Muslim names
4-Christians think that this era is the era is the era of crusaders and that they will be kings will salahuldin will be back
5-can u tell me what happened by Christians against Muslims in
bosnia
kosovo
shishnia
Iraq
Afghanistan and many other places
The detractors of this report are full of it. The rape and forced conversion of Christian young women is happening ALL OVER the Muslim world, not just in Egypt. I frankly cannot believe that anyone would downplay what is going on in the Muslim world in regards to the abuses of women. Mind-boggling.
[...] Media Report: “Controversy surrounds new Egypt report on forced conversion of Christian women&… Additional R.E.A.L. Reports on Freedom for Copts [...]
[...] – “Controversy surrounds new Egypt report on forced conversion of Christian women†[...]
To Anne – yr comment #4
You show us clearly that you have never set foot in a Arabic and/or Muslim country. What a pitty; you’re missing out on a lot of positive cultural experience – some bad one too, naturally. Personal first-hand experience is always better than repeating hear-say, CNN and FOX News or taking the writings and rantings of e.g. Prof. B. Lewis and Daniel Pipes about Islam for the truth. But the choice is naturally yours.
Oh yes, there is female abuse and rape in the Arabic society – both by Christians and by Muslims. But let me ask you just simple questions which are mind-boggling to me … buth obviously not to you:
- Why do Christian western countries in Europe and America have safe houses for women where they can seek shelter from their abusive (Christian) husbands and male friends?
- Why is the crime rate for sexual harassment and rape so high in Christian countries?
- Why are over 80% of the “911″ calls in America concerning domestic violence? After all the last time I checked the USofA were not a Muslim country …
- Why is the country with the highest rape rate a Christian country?
- Why is the country with the youngest rape victim – a 6 MONTH OLD BABY!!! – a Christian country?
- Why do some Christians (and Jews) mutilate their girls and women by circumzising them – as do some Muslims?
- Why does (un)honour killing also exist in the Christian and Jewish World?
Why – if everything is so hunky-dory in the “Christian” world?
Let me give you a few figures with respect to rape cases (per 100,000 inhabitants) – and mind you they are with a few exeptions on the RISE:
Cases per 100,00 inhabitants:
1. Canada – 77.64
2. United States of America – 32.99
3. New Zealand – 26.88
4. Iceland – 26.06
5. Sweden – 24.47
6. Belgium – 23.57
7. Untied Kingdom – 22.62
8. Northern Ireland – 21.04
South Africa with a reported 115.61 (!!) cases and with the youngest rape victim being a 6 months old Baby (!!!!) is absolutely “oustanding”!
Azerbaijan with reported 0,47 cases is the first Muslim country on the list. Oman with a reported 4,53 cases the first Arabic country. It goes without saying that the unreported number is worldwide still extremely high, especially in closed and conservative countries.
Does this statistic (provided by the UN) make the rapes in Egypt (or anywhere else for that matter) any better? Absolutely NO.
All I wanted to point out to you is that there is no need for your fury and outrage with respect to the Muslim countries when all they do is … follow far behind in the footsteps of the Christian countries.
By the way: I’m still missing your outcry with respect to the plight of your sisters – you don’t care about them in e.g. Northern Ireland (a purely catholic country)???
Would be nice and appreciated if you get real in a discussion rather than repeating slogans and propaganda. But … as you like.
~*~*~*
Also read at http://bikyamasr.com/?p=5794 my posting #11
Salam
Oooops – what’s wrong here?? Just these lines say it all:
“One case in the report stands out. A 17-year-old woman, called “R†in the report, says that she received a phone call from a man who wanted to meet her in a church. After meeting him there, she told investigators that she was drugged and kidnapped.”
Sorry folks – I live in this society since almost 2 decades. Not ONE single girl – 17-year or 23-year old or whatever – Christian or Muslim – would just get up based on a phone call and go and meet an unknown man somewhere (church, mosque or synagogue). NOT ONE.
This is all hoogwash.
This does sound quite odd, thank you for pointing this out. We had asked a few people about this, but no one said this.
this comment has been removed by moderator
Why does all muslims hates christian.And that some mothers donnot like thier chiidren to talk with christian
children.and also the christian women are not liked by muslims men so when they see any woman wearing a cut t-shirt they know that she is chritian they will try to kill her or to argue with her or to force her to be a muslim and to leave her religion.my name is mirhan magdy
Unprecedented: Egyptian Government Suppresses Christian Doctrine
The government is forcing the Coptic Church to “liberalize” its position on divorce and remarriage, even as it continues to govern according to the fascistic dictates of Sharia law.
June 16, 2010 – by Raymond Ibrahim Share | It is not enough that the Egyptian government facilitates persecution of the Copts, Egypt’s indigenous Christian minority. Now the government is interfering directly with the church’s autonomy concerning doctrine. According to the Assyrian International News Agency:
The head of the Coptic Church in Egypt has rejected a court ruling that orders the church to allow divorced Copts to remarry in the church. In a press conference held on Tuesday June 8, Pope Shenouda [III], reading from the statement issued by the Holy Synod’s 91 Bishops, including himself, said: “The Coptic Church respects the law, but does not accept rulings which are against the Bible and against its religious freedom which is guaranteed by the Constitution.” He went on to say “the recent ruling is not acceptable to our conscience, and we cannot implement it.” He also said that marriage is a holy sacrament of a purely religious nature and not merely an “administrative act.”
Though little reported in the West, this issue is rapidly boiling over. There is even talk that, if he does not submit to the court’s ruling, the pope will (once again) be imprisoned. What is behind such unprecedented governmental interference with the Coptic Church’s autonomy?
Reading Egypt’s national newspaper, Al Ahram, one gets the impression that, by trying to make divorce and remarriage easier for Copts, the Egyptian government is attempting to “liberalize” Coptic society — only to be challenged by an antiquated pope not open to “reform.” It quotes one Copt saying that the “pope’s limiting divorce and remarriage to cases of adultery is unfair. It is against human nature.” Even the manager of the Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance claims that his position “exposes Pope Shenouda’s desire to impose his will over the Christian community” (a curious statement, considering that some 10,000 Copts recently demonstrated in support of the pope, and that the Catholic and Orthodox churches — which guide some 1.5 billion Christians — hold similar views on divorce and remarriage).
At any rate, lest the reader truly think that the Egyptian government is becoming more “liberal,” there are a few important facts to remember:
First, according to the Second Article of the Egyptian Constitution, Sharia law — one of, if not the most draconian law codes to survive the Medieval period — is “the principal source of legislation.” This means that any number of measures contrary to basic human rights are either explicitly or implicitly supported by the Egyptian government, including polygamy, the obstruction of churches, and institutionalized discrimination against non-Muslims and females in general. Put differently, Sharia law can be liberal — but only to male Muslims, who (speaking of marriage and divorce) can have up to four wives, and divorce them by simply uttering “I divorce you” thrice (even via “text messaging”).
Moreover, the Egyptian government — again, in accordance to Sharia law — prevents Muslims from converting to Christianity. Mohammad Hegazy, for instance, tried formally to change his religion from Muslim to Christian on his I.D. card — yes, in Egypt, people are Gestapo-like categorized by their religion — only to be denied by the Egyptian court. (Many other such anecdotes abound.) In other words, while the Egyptian government portrays itself as “modernizing” the church’s “archaic” position on divorce and remarriage, it — the government, not Al Azhar, nor some radical sheikhs, nor the Muslim mob — prevents (including by imprisonment and torture) Muslims from converting to Christianity.
As for those who accuse Pope Shenouda of behaving no better, consider: he is not enforcing a totalitarian law that Copts must accept; he is simply saying that, in accordance to the Bible (e.g., Matt 5:32), and except in certain justifiable circumstances (e.g., adultery), Copts cannot remarry in the church: “Let whoever wants to remarry to do it away from us. There are many ways and churches to marry in. Whoever wants to remain within the church has to abide by its laws.”
If this still sounds a tad “non-pluralistic,” know that at least Copts have a way out: quit the church. No such way out for Muslims: Sharia law — Egypt’s “primal source of legislation” — mandates death for Muslims who wish to quit Islam.
Nor has the inherent hypocrisy of the government’s position been missed by Egyptians: “The pope evaded answering a question presented by a reporter in the press conference on whether the court would dare order Al Azhar [Egypt’s highest Islamic authority] to agree to a Muslim marrying a fifth wife and not only four, comparing it to the interference of the Court in the Bible teachings through its recent ruling.” A good question, indeed.
Finally, the grandest oddity of this situation is the fact that, for all its inhumane practices, Sharia law does, in fact, permit dhimmis to govern their communities according to their own creeds, a fact not missed by the pope himself, who “pointed to Islamic Law, which allows religious minorities to follow their own rules and customs.”
In short, the Egyptian government is behaving even more intolerantly than its medieval Muslim predecessors who, while openly oppressive of Christians, at least allowed the latter to govern their own, personal affairs according to Christian doctrine. As Pope Shenouda declared at the emergency Holy Synod, “the ruling must be reconsidered, otherwise this will mean that the Copts are suffering and that they are religiously oppressed.”
Indeed, when Copts are violently persecuted by Muslims, the government claims that it cannot control the actions of a minority of “extremists.” However, now that the Egyptian government is personally tampering with the church’s ability to live according to Christian doctrine, what more proof is needed that it seeks to subvert Coptic society and is an enabler of Coptic persecution?
Raymond Ibrahim is the associate director of the Middle East Forum, the author of The Al Qaeda Reader, and a guest lecturer at the National Defense Intelligence College.