Egypt: general confirms "virginity checks" forced on female protesters by military

Via CNN and other sources today, the revolting news that a senior Egyptian general admits so-called "virginity checks" (presumably, forcible examination of the hymen) were performed on women arrested in at least one demonstration this spring. Previously, military authorities denied it. Now, an Egyptian general who asked not to be identified defends the practice—wait for it—as a protective measure for the women's own good.

As noted previously on Boing Boing, Amnesty International reported and condemned news of this systematic sexual abuse by military agents back in March. At the time, women were at the forefront of the historic Tahrir Square protests that overthrew the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. And Amnesty International was told then by a group of women protesters "that they were beaten, given electric shocks, subjected to strip searches while being photographed by male soldiers, then forced to submit to 'virginity checks' and threatened with prostitution charges."

With that in mind, here's a snip from Shahira Amin's report today for CNN:

The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine," the general said. "These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs)."

The general said the virginity checks were done so that the women wouldn't later claim they had been raped by Egyptian authorities.

"We didn't want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren't virgins in the first place," the general said. "None of them were (virgins)."

...and if you're not a virgin, it's not rape, anyway. But more to the point: these so-called "virginity checks" are nothing less than a form of rape.

As a human biology note, not that it would make this horrific form of militarized sexual abuse any more justified, and not that it was the point of those perpetrating the abuse: examining the hymen is not an accurate way to determine virginity. This is a myth.

And a personal observation? My god, but these women out at the protests in Egypt, knowing that these are the sort of barbaric risks they face, are strong, strong human beings.

(PHOTO: Egyptian soldiers stand behind veiled women opposition supporters at Tahrir Square in Cairo in February, 2011; roughly the same period during which reports of this form of sexual abuse by military began to emerge. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic.)

• [Anonymous]

  While it’s pretty horrible – remember this is the same revolution and same location where a FEMALE TELEVISION REPORTER was attacked by a mob and brutalized. it’s not shocking given the rape and abuse of a women in public. Laura Logan is my hero for not only surviving but continuing to report and sharing her terrifying story with the world.

• [zyodei]

  It’s stories like this that make me think the revolution in Egypt is not all it’s cracked up to be :(

• [Victor Drath]

  I’m so proud that my country supported a regime that endorsed this kind of shit for over 30 years, and continues to support it. Makes me wanna stand in the streets and chant USA! like a fucking retard.

• [flipa]

  zyodei, Jake0748 –

  Please remember that this general must’ve been a general also in the old regime, and the victims of these “checks” are revolutionaries – they protested on Tahrir on March 9 to keep up pressure on the interim government.

  And the interim government? It comprises largely of military men who already had a lot of power in Mubarak’s regime. The revolution managed to get rid of a dictator, but a real democracy it ain’t – yet. There’s still hope for a more complete transformation, though.

  There is no post-revolution Egypt. Please don’t blame the crimes committed against revolutionaries on those same revolutionaries, based on the false belief that Egypt is now run by them. It really, really isn’t.

  • [emmdeeaych]

    good luck with that, one of those two is constantly obtuse. The other is often so.

  • [zyodei]

    No, that wasn’t what I was implying at all. Please don’t misunderstand me.

    Out of the frying pan and into the fire – Mubarak has been deposed, and power has been given to his long obedient military.

    THAT’S what makes me sad. The revolutionaries are heroes, and I hope they don’t give up or become complacent.

• [Anonymous]

  Well, well… yet another group of cockheads plumbing the depths of bestial scumbaggery.

  Fuggers are coming out of the woodwork these days, it seems. Like the filthy roaches they emulate, they are proving almost impossible to eradicate.

• [Tau’ma]

  Most of The Time ~ Lyrics

• [Anonymous]

  This truly disgusting.

• [ThinkCritically]

  And we all believe this because … CNN told us? That an unnamed general said so? We are led to presume that:
  1. This person is not just an former Egyptian national who is a general of the

  Consider:
  1. Western police use taser’s (and sometimes death) on civil protestors.
  2. Western forces (including the CIA) admitted to using torture
  3. The context: Egypt was being ripped apart in a US funded uprising.
  4. These women were not civil protestors, but were domestic terrorists.
  5. Anyone who is arrested for any semi-serious offense may be subject to a strip search/cavity search, and of course are photographed.
  6. Western police brutalize and charge citizens for dancing!

  And now the effect:
  1. Western citizens can feel comforted that their country sabotaged yet another sovereign nation.
  2. Bye bye Sinai peninsula for Egypt!

  • [Gloster]

    I just love how a collective tu quoque instantly excuses all and any horrible acts.

  • [Anonymous]

    Nothing you just wrote made any sense at all. References to “Western” things are at best off topic in this context, and at worst a flimsy attempt at deflection that any 2 year old could see through. If you want to complain about the west then find a better place, like an article or forum that is about problems in western culture. This article is about Egypt and Egyptian problems.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfYJsQAhl0

  • [Anonymous]

    It is ironic that your handle is “thinkcritically” but I’ll bite the troll bait.

    1. This person is not just an former Egyptian national who is a general of the

    Let me know when you are done typing.

    Consider:
    1. Western police use taser’s (and sometimes death) on civil protestors.

    Ok, not sure what this has to do with the article but go on…

    2. Western forces (including the CIA) admitted to using torture

    See above…

    3. The context: Egypt was being ripped apart in a US funded uprising.

    Ah, Egyptians are too weak too lead their own protests so it must be the US behind it. Funny how the US was reluctant to speak up most of the time due to paranoia about the Muslim Brotherhood and our buddies in Israel wanted the status quo.

    4. These women were not civil protestors, but were domestic terrorists.

    Huh? Did the tinfoil hat slip off? Are you getting info directly from Al-Qaeda?

    5. Anyone who is arrested for any semi-serious offense may be subject to a strip search/cavity search, and of course are photographed.

    Are you talking about Egypt? And what constitutes “semi-serious”? Attending a protest is grounds for a hymen inspection?

    6. Western police brutalize and charge citizens for dancing!

    Oh right, I saw that in Footloose also.

    And now the effect:
    1. Western citizens can feel comforted that their country sabotaged yet another sovereign nation.

    Yes, nothing is more satisfying that destroying a nation by supporting the grassroots overthrow of a decades old corrupt autocrat.

    2. Bye bye Sinai peninsula for Egypt!

    Ummmm, not sure what the Sinai has to do with this. I’m pretty sure that matter was settled in the Egypt-Israeli peace treaty many years ago. You just sort of pulled that one out of your hoo-ha didn’t you?

• [Anonymous]

  What!? Virginity check by military MEN, is this some sort of sexual innuendo or what?what a pathetic bunch of perverts!

• [Anonymous]

  Thank you ThinkCritically! Most Americans hide behind patriotism to justify judging other countries’ behaviors while turning a blind eye toward our own injustices. It’s like Chomsky said, they consider war crimes only as long as they’re committed by another country.

• [Paul]

  If these generals are ever sent to prison, they’ll finally understand the stupidity of stating that if they are not virgins then it can’t be called rape.

  They will be non-raped every week.

• [Anonymous]

  So… it is like the test for a witch… if you drown you are not a witch but if you come up for air… they kill you for being a witch. This sort of behavior from the ancient seat of wisdom…. it is painful.

• [ThinkCritically]

  Potential Double Speak Warning Here.

  The video and the article make a claim that a “virginity test” was conducted by Egyptian military. We are led to believe that this involves inspection of the hymen.

  From the Video Women’s Claim: “They made us sign statements indicating that they were virgins”. Was that the extent of “TEST” or “CHECK?”.

  If they were also strip searched (which is pretty standard for anyone possessing tools of anarchy I would imagine), such a search does not necessarily include a hymen inspection. She makes no explicit claim about that. Plus, a woman was there, and a doctor was the one who made the exclusion.

  I find it pretty odd that the CNN video excluded her making the claim implied by the news story: “My hymen was inspected by Egyptian soldiers”. Her actual testimony falls very far short of that in this selectively edited video.

  It would be interesting to see her raw interview footage.

  • [Anonymous]

    Potential Double Speak Warning Here.

    “The video and the article make a claim that a “virginity test” was conducted by Egyptian military. We are led to believe that this involves inspection of the hymen.”

    That is because it is pretty clear from what the victim said that it was a medical inspection that was conducted for the “virginity test”. She said soldiers viewed the doctor examining her from behind. Come on now.

    “They made us sign statements indicating that they were virgins”. Was that the extent of “TEST” or “CHECK?”.”

    Clearly not. Read above. Besides, what business is it of theirs to even ask?? To imply that it is immoral of them to be anything but a virgin is terrible and humiliating to these women.

    “If they were also strip searched (which is pretty standard for anyone possessing tools of anarchy I would imagine)”

    Tools of anarchy eh? Didn’t you just deride CNN for making assumptions and here you go making one of your own. You reveal your motivation here.

    “such a search does not necessarily include a hymen inspection.”

    You are right….unless it does as she said it did. What other medical inspection could be have conducted to even pretend that he was checking for “virginity”?

    “She makes no explicit claim about that.”

    Yes she did. She said it was a medical inspection to determine her virginity. How apologetic can you be??

    “Plus, a woman was there, and a doctor was the one who made the exclusion.”

    Seriously? As long as their is a woman present (not the doctor though, nor were they even asked) it is ok to subject them to immoral medical inspections against their will in front of male soldiers???

    “I find it pretty odd that the CNN video excluded her making the claim implied by the news story: “My hymen was inspected by Egyptian soldiers”. Her actual testimony falls very far short of that in this selectively edited video.”

    No it doesn’t. She says VERY clearly that it was a medical inspection. Come on now. I keep making this point because you have either missed it or are purposefully ignoring it because it doesn’t support your defense of this terrible regime.

    “It would be interesting to see her raw interview footage”

    It is obvious to all reading your ridiculous posts that even if you DID see the actual unedited footage and it further supported what was reported you wouldn’t accept that and would simply resort to further defending the immoral actions of those soldiers.

    Your motivation in defending actions like these is very clear for everyone to see.

    Immoral

    Terrible

    Sexist

    You should be ashamed to give yourself the moniker “ThinkCritically”

    Peace

  • [flipa]

    Did you notice that the post links to an AI piece where an Egyptian woman talks, under her own name, in quite a bit of detail about these inspections? And that the CNN piece is not about these “allegations”, but the fact that someone in the military is (albeit anonymously) confirming the existence of the practice & defending it?

    If the Egyptian military officially confirms the story, or you’re otherwise presented with whatever you consider adequate evidence that this happened, how will you react? Will you still support the military’s treatment of these protesters that you – for reasons unexplained – consider “domestic terrorists?

• [Nawel]

  Putting aside that the fact that such inspections are degrading and humilliating, and that sexuality is nobodys bussiness but our own: is being a non-virgin woman some sort of a crime in Egypt? I mean, what kind of security or whatever goal is accomplished by checking a woman’s virginity? I’m trying to find the “rationale” behind this (tho I know the military is not the most rational of institutions)

  • [Gloster]

    The original rationale was that should they discover that the arrested female protesters are not virgins, they are going to get slapped with prostitution charges as an added bonus. The operating logic lying somewhere along the lines of: Unmarried women have no business having sex at all, married women are supposed to be sitting silently at home, serving their husbands, and so have no business protesting.
    So if she weighs the same as a duck, she’s made of wood and therefore a prostitute.

• [johnnyaction]

  So we’re going to humiliate you sexually in front of strangers to prove that we didn’t sexually assault you?

  Wha-wha-what?

  yeah…. I don’t think the revolution there is done yet.

• [Jake0748]

  …”None of them were (virgins).”

  Oh, well, I guess its ok then.

  Who is this general again? What’s his name? Can we find out? Is he typical of the military in the post-revolution Egypt? Do they really pay their army to put their fingers up girl’s vaginas?

  Maybe it’s just me, but that seems kinda wrong.

  • [flipa]

    If we ever do find the general’s name and face, it’ll probably be through the wonderful Piggipedia project – the best use of Flickr I’ve ever seen: http://www.flickr.com/groups/piggipedia/

• [museincognito]

  Huh?

  ….. So. Not. Working. For. Me.

  A’tall.

• [missionman]

  I hope that the Western countries are paying serious attention to Egypt as they will set the example for any potential democratic state in the Middle East from these uprisings. This BS can’t be tolerated.

  • [Brother Phil]

    Given the “revelation” that porn mags were found in Osama bin Laden’s compound, I’d say that they’re already learning from it: call enemies / victims perverts. Not that that’s new: the government sockpuppets were falsely calling Jean Charles de Menezes a rapist as soon as it emerged that he wasn’t the terrorist that he’d been mistaken for.

  • [Brother Phil]

    Given the “revelation” that porn mags were found in Osama bin Laden’s compound, I’d say that they’re already learning from it: call enemies / victims perverts. Not that that’s new: the government sockpuppets were falsely calling Jean Charles de Menezes a rapist as soon as it emerged that he wasn’t the terrorist that he’d been mistaken for.

• [chgoliz]

  “We didn’t want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren’t virgins in the first place,” the general said. “None of them were (virgins).”

  Announcement to all male relatives of women who protested and were arrested: your female chattel has shamed you by whoring around…so whaddya gonna do about it, huh?

• [Anonymous]

  ‘We did a virginity check to prove we didn’t rape anyone. None of the women were virgins” – The logic fail here is stunning.

• [Death and Destruction]

  Back in the mid-seventies, I remember reading Susan Brownmiller’s “Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape”, which was about the history of men using rape as a tool of war. I naively thought that shedding light on the practice would lead to its eradication.

  What a fool I was.

• [rebdav]

  I suspect that this will just become worse should the Muslim Brotherhood party, sponsor of Hamas, end up on top.
  The problem with revolution is you often end up with a new boss worse than the old boss.
  What happened in 1776 America and 1989-90′s Eastern Europe is not terribly common.