CAIRO — Marina never thought that the man she chose to marry 15 years ago, and with whom she’s raised three daughters, would orchestrate a criminal case of adultery against her with the aim to publicly defame her.
The man wanted to get divorced, but as both he and his wife are Coptic Orthodox Christians, the church allows divorce only in the case of adultery.
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Marina* recounted how her husband repeatedly invited one of his friends to their house in the village in Qalyubia province, just north of Cairo.
To her surprise, she said, her husband had forced her to sit with them while she wore her home clothes, which are typically reserved for when women are alone or in the presence of their husbands or children. He threatened her if she didn’t comply. “One time I said ‘no’,” she recalled. “He hit me with a tea tray.”
Her husband’s friend began to do suspicious things, including bringing a cake and gifts on her birthday. “I was surprised how my husband would accept a stranger bringing his wife a bottle of perfume,” she said. “When I asked him, he said, ‘He’s like my brother.'”
Eventually, she discovered that her husband had recorded private conversations with her, presenting the audio to the court as conversations between her and his friend. He also fabricated audio clips, alleging that I sent them to his friend, she said.
“It wasn’t my voice,” she insisted.
But for Egyptian Copts looking for a divorce, it was a weapon that could be used in court.
The way out
Marina’s was not an isolated case. Others have told Al Manassa of such attempts at blackmail by their husbands to obtain a certified divorced. Hanan says her husband defamed her to force her to give up her legal entitlements under Coptic-Egyptian law.
The husband, who is an IT specialist, filed an adultery lawsuit against his wife, claiming that he received a CD in a mail containing pornographic clips of his wife with other people. The court gave the wife one year in prison and a fine of 10,000 pounds (about 0). But she appealed the verdict to a higher court which acquitted her.
“We found that the CD was completely fabricated,” her lawyer, Essam Attia, said.
Blackmail to stay married
Egyptian attorney Maha Abu Baker explained that there are also men who use blackmail in a similar way, but for the opposite result: to force their wives to give up all their legal entitlements and remain married.
“There are husbands who do not want a divorce, and their only goal is to keep the wife as a private property,” she said. Several women who’d been seeking a divorced recounted that their respective husbands used videos and photos their wives might have sent to them upon their request while they were traveling.
He told our children that he has evidence against me
Iman* was a victim of such kind of blackmail. The woman decided to end her 10-year marriage since her husband turned into a drug addict, she said.
“He threatened me that if I filed a divorce lawsuit, he would file an adultery lawsuit,” she recalled. Her husband also severely beat her, prompting her to report to police, she said.
It had become impossible for Iman to continue maintaining her marriage after her husband sent messages to her sister accusing her of adultery.
“He told her that I’d had multiple affairs,” she said. “And he told our children that he has evidence against me.”
Maximizing penalties
Egyptian criminal code states that violators of “the principles or family values … or the sanctity of private life” through online messages, news or images, face not less than six months in prison and a fine or up to 100,000 pounds (about ,000).
But that’s not enough, said Marina’s father who called for amending the legislation to maximize the penalties. He deplored fabricating “online chat,” by some husbands, saying that such acts destroy the entire family.
“Death was more merciful to me than what I lived through when my daughter was accused of adultery,” he said, adding that the Internet has become a tool for every man who wants to get rid of his wife, especially if he is Christian.
“We do not have divorce (in the Coptic church), and the result was an adultery case that was fabricated against my daughter,” he said. “If God had not proven her innocence, I would not have been able to raise my head again.”
Cyber extortion
The National Council for Women said in its 2023 annual report it received 404 complaints of cybercrimes, including 39 cases of forgery and fabrication. Among them was a woman who accused her husband of creating a fake Facebook account using her photo and name. He published their private photos and videos of them, and accused her of prostitution.
The law distinguishes between husbands and strangers
With the council’s help, the woman filed a police report, and her husband was eventually sentenced to six months in prison, she said.
The rate of cybercrimes is increasing in line with the increase in the number of users and the spread of the Internet, according to former Police Major General Ali Abaza, former head of Internet Investigations Unit in Egypt’s Interior Ministry.
While cyber extortion is not the largest, it is the most harmful of digital crimes, he said.
Abaza urged women victims to immediately report to police without fear, affirming that all police and court procedures in such cases are carried out in high secrecy to protect the women victims.
In blackmail cases, the law distinguishes between husbands and strangers, said Abu Baker, the lawyer, calling for maximizing penalties in the case of husbands since they betray their wives’ trust.
Forever impact
Hala Hammad of the Mu’anth Salem Initiative, which provides psychological and legal support to victims, monitors the impact of blackmail on women’s emotional well-being.
These impacts, she says, include “sleep disorder, depression and anxiety, loss of self-confidence and confidence in those closest to them, in addition to their extreme fear of social media.”
“The woman who has been blackmailed comes to us and has an extreme fear of society, her family and everyone around her,” she said.
She saw some women preoccupied by the idea of suicide, and searching for a way to end their lives, after her reputation has been tarnished without receiving the needed support from their families and friends.
People don’t have mercy.
Marina, Hanan and Iman were cleared from the adultery charges, however, they are still impacted by what happened, particularly Marina.
The woman says she still feels that such accusations are still wrapped around her neck and haunting her like a nightmare. She also suffers from how society looks at her as a divorced woman- and all divorced women.
“If I were a widow, it would have been better,” Marina said. “People don’t have mercy.”
She has not been able to overcome the accusation of adultery by her husband and the father of her three daughters.
“I lived through many days full of terror, fear and psychological pressure,” she said. “I never imagined all of this would happen to me.”
*The names of the women in this report are pseudonyms to protect their identities and avoid retribution.
