Jihad of the Womb: Sex Trafficking of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt

Coptic Solidarity was Formed in 2010 to Monitor and Report on the ongoing persecution of the Coptic Christian Community of Egypt.  In September of 2020, Coptic Solidary publicized a report detailing the ongoing crisis of the Sex-Trafficking of the Coptic Christian women of Egypt.  Human Trafficking is a violation of numerous laws and human rights charters all over the world.  The U.S. passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000 to combat the epidemic, & numerous other nations have followed this lead.  Article 10 of the Arab Charter of Human Rights denounces all forms of slavery.  Egyptian Law likewise denounces the practice of Human Trafficking.  However, despite these facts, little has been done by Egyptian authorities or the International Community to bring a halt to the sex trafficking of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt.  

Ranya Abd al-Masih: 39-year-old Coptic Christian Teacher & Mother of Three Daughters
Kidnapped in April 2020 & Forcibly Converted to Islam.  Authorities Do Nothing. 

Egyptian Coptic Priest Minya Governorate revealed to Coptic Solidarity that Coptic Christian women are disappearing every year.  His own daughter was nearly kidnapped, and that the Egyptian authorities are either complicit in the kidnappings, or they're bribed into looking the other way.  Both Coptic activists and Islamic traffickers confess that young Coptic women are targeted with a method known as "Bride Trafficking."  At times Muslim traffickers form romantic relationships with young Coptic girls, convincing them that they love them and want to convert to Christianity.  After being lulled into a false sense of security, the Coptic girl goes off to "help" the young Muslim man, only to be taken away and forcibly converted to Islam.  Other young Coptic girls are kidnapped by forced, and through physical and psychological abuse, are forced to convert and marry their abductor.  

Meray Girgis Sobhi: 20-year-old Coptic Christian Woman.  Disappeared April 2018.  Left home to take an auto-rickshaw to Sohag University.  Meray's Father went to the police, who did nothing.  In desperation, Meray's Father reported her case to Coptic Solidarity.  The police then found Meray and returned her, but demanded that her Father denounce Coptic Solidarity in exchange for doing this.  Egyptian authorities also demanded that Meray and her family not give any interviews to International Media or Organizations.  

The Kidnapping of Coptic Christian girls is also referred to as "Jihad of the Womb."  The abductors use this tactic as a way to wage "Jihad" on the Christians of the Middle East.  By kidnapping Christian women, they reduce the Christian Communities ability to have children and thus help their community endure.  At the same time, these abductors use their victims for impregnation so they can bring more Muslims into their country and increase their numbers.  In Egypt, it has gotten to the point that entire Mosques become involved in the kidnapping of Coptic girls.  The Mosques send agents to spy on the Christian communities and then send Muslim women to befriend the Coptic Christian girls so they can lure them away from their homes to be kidnapped.  

In the meantime, the Egyptian government is doing nothing to stop this.  Instead of honoring their laws as well as the Arab Charter of Human Rights, the Egyptian government is simply denying that any form of trafficking exists within their borders.  Egypt, like many Islamic nations, is also dictated by various aspects of Sharia Law.  One of which forbids one to convert away from Islam, even if the conversion is done by force or coercion, it is generally accepted by the Egyptian courts that once one converts to Islam, one cannot leave it, regardless of the circumstances behind the conversion.  It is because of Sharia that Egyptian Courts decreed that once a minor converts to Islam, she is assigned a Muslim guardian who can then approve any marriage.  Likewise, if a married Coptic Christian woman converts to Islam, her marriage to her Christian husband is immediately annulled unless he also converts.  

This practice is clearly illustrated with the case of Hanan Adly Girgis.  At the age of 18, she was kidnapped and a few days later, the authorities informed her family that she had converted to Islam.  Knowing that she had been converted against her will, Hanan's family went to the police to protest this, only to be beaten by the officers.  It clearly illustrated that the courts decreed that her conversion outweighed everything, and the fact that it was a forced conversion was irrelevant.  The fact that the police officers not only failed to help Hanan, but actually attacked her family when they came to them illustrates that they were either in on it, or had been paid off.  

Coptic Solidarity is currently trying to push Egyptian President al-Sisi and the International Community to take action against these ongoing atrocities.  They are demanding that laws be passed in Egypt that minors are not permitted to convert and that adults cannot formally convert unless that individual who expresses desire to convert to Islam can meet with the family and assure them that they are not being pressured to convert, and that an independent panel composed of members of the National Human Rights Council or other human rights bodies can analyze the case and ensure that there is not coercion in causing the individual to convert.  Coptic Solidarity is also calling on the various anti-human trafficking organizations around the world to set up networks within Egypt to aid these victims, as many have nowhere to turn.  

Sources"

"Jihad of the Womb: Trafficking of Coptic Women & Girls in Egypt."  Coptic Solidarity.  Sept. 10, 2020.  Accessed from https://www.copticsolidarity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/jihad-of-the-womb-report-fa.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=164fcacc-b6da-4afd-a845-16c6ca843dbc.