Police conducted a forced anal examination and put Malak al-Kashif in a male prison when they arrested her in March
Egypt released a 19-year-old transgender LGBTI rights activist on Tuesday (16 July), four months after police arrested her over an anti-government demonstration.
Authorities previously subjected Malak al-Kashif to a forced anal examination. They also kept her in a prison for male inmates.
‘Good news’ a statement read on a Facebook page campaigning for her release. ‘The state security prosecutor decided today to release Malak al-Kashif’.
Authorities arrested Malak along with 70 other anti-government protesters demonstrating after a train explosion killed 20 in Egypt’s capital Cairo.
The National Security Agency arrested her on suspicion of being ‘part of a terrorist group’.
Her friends and family were worried as although Malek is female and has undergone gender affirmation surgery, her documents still list her as male.
She has been trying to change her paperwork for three years, according to Egyptian Streets.
Malak rose to fame in 2017 when she documented her transition on social media.
She made headlines in 2018 when she tried to take her own life. She later shared her suicide note.
‘I’m not killing myself because I’m trans’ she wrote. ‘It’s society that has killed me, because you rejected me, hurt me, hit me, detained me’.
LGBTI rights in Egypt
Homosexuality is not explicitly illegal in Muslim-majority Egypt.
But, tolerance of LGBTI people is extremely low. LGBTI citizens risk arrest for blasphemy, debauchery, and other ‘immorality’ charges.
In 2017, a rainbow flag hoisted at a rock concert prompted an anti-LGBTI crackdown.
Authorities arrested more than 70 people and sentenced 20 people to jail.
Worryingly, police used mobile apps such as Grindr, Tinder, and Hornet to entrap people.
by Rik Glauert
Source – Gay Star News
