Recent reports by the Human Rights Watch have revealed that security officials in Egypt are using dating apps to entrap LGBTQ+ persons.
The research and advocacy NGO group accused security officers of Egypt’s National Security Agency of randomly picking up individuals off the streets based on suspicion of their sexuality or gender expression and detaining them in inhuman conditions, after illegally searching their phones. The content gotten off their phones is used to justify prolonged detentions and bring unjustified prosecutions against them. While in jail, they then subject LGBTQ+ persons to various forms of abuse and inhumane conditions including torture and forced “virginity tests”.
“Egyptian authorities seem to be competing for the worst record on rights violations against LGBT people in the region, while the international silence is appalling,” Rasha Younes, LGBT+ rights researcher at Human Rights Watch said in the report. “Sarah Hegazy’s tragic death may have ignited waves of shock and solidarity worldwide, but Egypt has unabashedly continued to target and abuse LGBT people simply for who they are.”
The report revealed that Egyptian authorities had arbitrarily arrested seven men by entrapping them on dating apps (Grindr) and social media (Facebook and WhatsApp). Police randomly picked up five men because of what the authorities described as “feminine and gay gestures” and one transgender woman due to her “abnormal appearance.”
Salim, 25, was arbitrarily detained twice. In early 2019, Salim was meeting a friend at night in Ramses, Cairo, when police officers approached him and demanded to see his ID. Police told Salim they were “cleaning the streets of faggots,” and proceeded to beat him “with all their might,” then handcuffed him and threw him in a police vehicle, he said. They took him to Azbakeya Police Station, and confiscated his phone, money, and personal belongings.
For the report, Human Rights Watch interviewed 15 people about the recent wave of violence towards LGBTQ+ people, including victims who were prosecuted between 2017 to 2020 under the country’s vague and dangerous “debauchery” and “prostitution” laws. Eight of them were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of the authorities, while four confirmed that they were denied medical care.
