INDECENT, INDEED

Sexually Harassed Egyptian Activist Imprisoned for ‘Spreading False News’ About Her Harassment

In what Amnesty International calls “an outrageous case of injustice.”

An Egyptian activist received a two-year prison sentence for “spreading false news”  after posting a Facebook video that alleged sexual harassment. Amal Fathy, described in reports as an actress, uploaded a video to the social media platform in May, claiming she suffered sexual harassment at a bank. Fathy also maintained that Egypt’s government doesn’t do enough to protect women, according to the Guardian. Egyptian law enforcement agents arrested Fathy during a pre-dawn raid at her home two days later. Authorities also detained her husband and young son in the raid, but ultimately let them go, the Guardian also reported. Fathy was sentenced to two years for “spreading false news with intent to harm the Egyptian state and possessing ‘indecent material,” and is now being tried separately for being part of a terrorist organization, the Guardian said. Amnesty International decried the sentence, calling it “ an outrageous case of injustice, where the survivor is sentenced while the abuser remains at large.”