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Teen Egyptian girl's case puts legal system under spotlight

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AP Cairo
Last Updated : Sep 14 2019 | 2:25 PM IST

The prosecution of a 15-year-old girl who killed a bus driver after he allegedly tried to rape her has reignited debate over the treatment of women in Egypt's legal system, including the practice of virginity tests and blaming victims of sexual violence.

In July, the teenager made headlines after she confessed to police that she stabbed to death a bus driver who she alleged had kidnapped her in a deserted rural area near Cairo and sought to sexually assault her at knife point. The girl said she tricked her alleged assailant, took away his knife, and stabbed him several times before running away.

Shortly after her arrest, the teenager was required to undergo a virginity test, an invasive procedure that rights groups say in itself amounts to sexual assault.

Several women's rights groups have offered legal assistance, arguing for leniency for the teen because she defended herself against a sexual attack.

They hope that a judge's ruling in her favor could set an important legal precedent and help challenge what they view as a deep-seated misogynistic culture of blaming female victims rather than male attackers.

"This case reveals the dualism in Egyptian society," said Intissar Saeed, president of the Cairo Foundation for Law and Development.

"I myself have sympathized with her since day one. But when I wrote about her on my Facebook page some male lawyers attacked the girl on my page saying she was not a decent woman."
"If she is not divorced, married or widowed and turned out not to be a virgin, she gets automatically labeled as indecent and deserving what she had gone through."

Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content

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First Published: Sep 14 2019 | 2:25 PM IST

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