Forensics: No signs of rape in Tahrir sexual assault cases

Cases of mass sexual assaults against several females in Tahrir Square during Sunday's celebrations for the inauguration of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi cannot be considered rape, according to the Forensic Department's spokesperson Hisham Abdel Hamid.

Abdel Hamid, speaking during a phone interview with Mehwar satellite channel on Wednesday night, claimed that after examining seven female protesters, he believed it was better to describe Sunday night's violence as sexual assault rather than rape.

The incidents, although part of a consistent series of mass sexual assaults against female protesters in recent years, caused uproar after a video went viral on social media showing a mob of harassers sexually assaulting a protester. The graphic video showed the protester stripped naked and severely injured on different parts of her body.

The graphic content of the video pushed local and international human rights organizations to publish strongly worded condemnations, heavily criticizing the government for failing to face up to endemic sexual violence.

Sisi made a hospital visit to the victim featured in the video on Wednesday, apologizing to her, saying: “We’ll get you your rights."

The president-elect has launched a national campaign to combat sexual harassment. Sisi has called on Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb to form a ministerial committee with participation from Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni Muslim religious authority in the country, as well as the church, to understand the reasons for the spread of sexual harassment and to specify a national strategy to confront it, privately owned daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on its website Wednesday.

He has also instructed the Ministry of Interior, in charge of Egypt’s police force, to take all necessary measures to combat sexual harassment, which a presidential statement issued Tuesday said is “an unacceptable form of conduct, alien to the best principles of Egyptian culture.”

The Ministry of Health’s mental health department said in an official statement Thursday that the department would give psychological support to the mob sexual assault victim, and that it will continue after she is discharged from hospital.

Egypt recently passed a new law, issued by outgoing President Adly Mansour, amending some articles in the Penal Code to criminalize sexual harassment. However, some local NGOs still criticized perceived government impotence to combat gender-based violence and sexual harassment in Egypt.

The non-governmental organization the Nazra Center for Feminist Studies said in a Tuesday statement, undersigned by 25 rights groups, that there were more than 500 victims of sexual violence between February 2011 and January 2014. It said the new changes to the law “were not enough to hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable.”

UNICEF's Cairo office however praised the law. “The amendment is very encouraging as it defines sexual harassment for the first time in Egypt’s history. The law represents a major step towards achieving safety of Egyptian women and girls in public spaces. The law is a combined effort by the Egyptian government with civil society and UN agencies.”

UNICEF called on the Egyptian government to ensure the law’s enforcement.