New report released on the abduction and Islamization of Christian women in Egypt

Christian Solidarity International released a new report today together with The Coptic Foundation for Human Rights detailing the abduction, rape, forced marriage and forced Islamization of Coptic women and girls in Egypt.

Despite their significant numbers in Egypt (8-12%), the Christian community, known as the Coptics, is frequently subject to widespread marginalization from society and even violent forms of abuse. According to the Egyptian Constitution, Islam is the “religion of the state” and its “principle source of legislation”.

While the hardship of minority communities in the Middle East is well documented, the abuse detailed in this report reveals a disturbing union of religious oppression, gender-based sexual and physical violence and forced marriage that corresponds with international standards of human trafficking. There have been fifty such cases in the previous year in one Egyptian parish alone.  [read more]

To download this important report in pdf format, click here.