After meeting with Amnesty representatives in Cairo on June 26, the head of Egypt’s military intelligence promised that the army would no longer carry out forced ‘virginity tests’.
Thank you to the over 50,000 of you who signed our online action demanding an investigation and end to the use of forced virginity tests on Egyptian women.
Background
When army officers violently cleared Tahrir Square on March 9, 2011 – the day after International Women's Day – 17 women were detained, beaten, prodded with electric shock batons, subjected to strip searches, forced to submit to 'virginity tests' and threatened with prostitution charges.
The women were brought before a military court on March 11 and released two days later. Several received one-year suspended sentences for charges including disorderly conduct, destroying property, obstructing traffic and possession of weapons.