Magda Adli

"The whole proceeding was illegitimate," said Magda Adli of the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence in Cairo, Egypt.

But according to Magda Adli, director of the Nadim Centre for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, "most torture victims in Egypt aren't activists, but normal citizens".

Torture, experts note, is not reserved for those with opinions different from the ruling regime, but for those accused of petty crimes as well, such as theft.According to Adli, police often arrest dozens of people in a single sweep, and then torture them all until someone confesses - whether or not they are actually guilty.

Besides its usefulness in obtaining confessions, Adli also said the police use torture as a form of personal revenge by members of the regime or police force.She cited one case in which a man was allegedly tortured for quitting his job as a private cook for the Minster of Health without giving adequate notice.

While Adli believes torture is frequently used in police stations throughout the country, she cited the many factors that make compilation of statistics difficult.Human Rights groups devoted to the issue of torture are not permitted to promote themselves in Egypt, Adli explained, so many Egyptians do not know of their existence.

"The Mufti's fatwa had a big impact, " says Magda Adli, of the Nadim Center, which works with victims of political and domestic violence."The newspapers have been full of reports [of rape] in the last few months, and social understanding of it is changing.Some people are still writing about it with the old vision [that a woman's dress or demeanor provokes the crime], but a lot more see the woman as a victim and feel that marriage is absolutely not the solution."

Since there are no statistics on rape incidence in Egypt, it's difficult to know if rape itself is increasing or merely discussion about it, but one thing observers agree on is that it's grossly underreported.Fear of disgrace prompts many victims to marry their rapists at police stations, but untold others simply live with the memory for years."We have women coming in [to Nadim Center] who were raped 20 years ago and have never told anyone," said Adli.

"The Mufti's fatwa had a big impact, " says Magda Adli, of the Nadim Center, which works with victims of political and domestic violence."The newspapers have been full of reports [of rape] in the last few months, and social understanding of it is changing.Some people are still writing about it with the old vision [that a woman's dress or demeanor provokes the crime], but a lot more see the woman as a victim and feel that marriage is absolutely not the solution."

Since there are no statistics on rape incidence in Egypt, it's difficult to know if rape itself is increasing or merely discussion about it, but one thing observers agree on is that it's grossly underreported.Fear of disgrace prompts many victims to marry their rapists at police stations, but untold others simply live with the memory for years."We have women coming in [to Nadim Center] who were raped 20 years ago and have never told anyone," said Adli.

Women's activists have long argued that Article 291 deprived women of their rights under Sharia.Since many victims marry under the pressure of family to avoid scandal, they often forego their right to mahr, the sum a husband pays a bride's family for the right to wed her.Nor do they secure a sizable mu'akhar al sadaaq (money stipulated by the marriage contract to be paid to the bride upon divorce--thus acting as some sort of deterrent).

"The Mufti's fatwa had a big impact, " says Magda Adli, of the Nadim Center, which works with victims of political and domestic violence."The newspapers have been full of reports [of rape] in the last few months, and social understanding of it is changing.Some people are still writing about it with the old vision [that a woman's dress or demeanor provokes the crime], but a lot more see the woman as a victim and feel that marriage is absolutely not the solution."

Since there are no statistics on rape incidence in Egypt, it's difficult to know if rape itself is increasing or merely discussion about it, but one thing observers agree on is that it's grossly underreported.Fear of disgrace prompts many victims to marry their rapists at police stations, but untold others simply live with the memory for years."We have women coming in [to Nadim Center] who were raped 20 years ago and have never told anyone," said Adli.

Women's activists have long argued that Article 291 deprived women of their rights under Sharia.Since many victims marry under the pressure of family to avoid scandal, they often forego their right to mahr, the sum a husband pays a bride's family for the right to wed her.Nor do they secure a sizable mu'akhar al sadaaq (money stipulated by the marriage contract to be paid to the bride upon divorce--thus acting as some sort of deterrent).