Malak el-Kashif is one of the outspoken trans-gender in Egypt. When she was born, people said she is a male, Abdel Rahman said she was a female. At the age of thirteen years, she fled home because of family rejection. Besides, she was diagnosed with gender identity mayhem, disconnect between assigned gender at birth, and the current one. The same perplexing issue led to several detains by the Egyptian authorities.
The arrest took place on 6th March 2019, according to Human Rights Watch. A lawyer with the Egyptian Commission for freedom and Rights says al-Kashif is detained in an unknown location and with no access to legal counsel. As per the lawyer, the State Security Prosecutors ordered a fifteen-day detention for al-Kashif. The authorities accuse Malak of misusing the media a charge that is used massively in the country against diplomatic rebels.
Mockery and misunderstanding
After the arrest of Kashif, several Egyptian media outlets report on her evolution she wrote about on social media back in 2017. Some people have covered her arrest as well as the alleged contraventions against her, but some are mocking her. Amr Adeed, the producer of pro-government talk show, urges the authorities to release her as the case is attracting pessimistic alerts from intercontinental media.
Adeeb also adds that the police are confused about whether to lock her up in men’s or women’s cell. He urges the authorities to release her as she will bring a lot of trouble. One of Malak’s friends says that from the way police treat her, it reflects the kind of society they are living. The ally complains by saying that society misunderstands transgender persons, and the nation cannot treat them with the dignity they deserve.
Conflict-ridden tests
Homosexuality is not termed illegal in Egypt, but individuals arrested are charged with a 1961 law, which considers it to connect to prostitution. According to the reporters, all cases concerning homosexuality are taken care of by the secondary police at the interior ministry. It is a rule in the country that the arrested suspects should pass through an anal examination. Kashif is said to have undergone the same test to check whether she is a homosexual.
According to concerned officials, they did test Kashif to determine whether inmates raped her while in custody. It is not the first time the authorities claim so to justify equally controversial, also known as virginity tests. As per Amnesty International Egyptian soldiers beat up seventeen women, detain, and subject them to virginity tests. Besides, one of the Egyptian generals claims that they do the tests to check whether the imprisoned women are raped.
Conclusion
Kashif’s legal team, together with ECRF vowed to take action in opposition to the ill-treatment while in custody. Furthermore, they hold the interior ministry responsible for everything which happened to Malak, including operations as well as practices that would endanger her physical or human dignity. They questioned her again on 19th March alongside thirty-five defendants who face terror-linked charges too.
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