Egyptian activists have posted a shocking video recording of a group of people raping a woman in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
In the past week, there have been more attacks on female demonstrators, of whom at least 20 were victims of sexual abuse.
Video posted by Arab activists
In the shot, taken from a distance, we can see massive beatings around the victim, although she is not seen. The video is accompanied by a commentary in Arabic, which describes in detail what is happening.
The video was published by the group called "Operation of the fight against sexual abuse", which was formed in September 2012 with the aim of fighting violence against women.
This group believes that sexual violence has been used to discourage women from participating in protests.
"This is a political issue. The main goal is to remove women from the public," said Engi Gozlan, from the aforementioned group.
Patrolling the streets, carrying leaflets and providing physical and psychological support to the victims, this group is one of the few trying to deal with the increasing number of attacks on female protesters in Egypt.
Although sexual violence has long been a taboo subject in Egypt, following an increase in public attacks during the 2011 uprising, the topic is being talked about more. Violence against women caught the public's attention in December 2011, with the shocking footage of the girl, covered in a scarf and wearing only a bra, being brutally beaten by the police.
The video that shocked the world: Violence against the so-called "girl in the blue bra"
Thanks to the "girl in the blue bra", as it has been dubbed by the media, the topic of violence against women has become unavoidable in all political discussions in Egypt. But, as last week's brutal attack showed, the debate around it has failed to prevent violence.
Journalists were also raped in the protests. The reporter of "France 24", Sonia Dridi, was attacked in Cairo while reporting for this television. The attack happened in October in Tahrir Square, the same place where CBS reporter Lara Logan was attacked and raped last year.
Lara Logan talks about her bitter experience of being raped by many men in Tahrir Square
Dridi explained the whole situation, saying that he was standing in the square reporting when a crowd of men surrounded him. They started to touch him all over his body, tried to undress him and separate him from the colleague who was on duty with him and who tried to protect him.
"We constantly see them - people who exploit women," Dridi said, speaking of the country from which he was reporting.
The French journalist would probably have the same fate as Logan, if her colleague Ashraf Khalil, a correspondent for "Time" magazine and also for "France 24" television, did not save her.
Khalil told The Associated Press that the people gathered at the protest, some of them, momentarily "went crazy" and turned to the two of them.
Sonia Didri was helped by her Arab colleague, so that she does not have the same fate as Lara Logan
"What I was able to do was to hold her and tighten my hands around her. It was difficult to know in those moments how many people around us probably wanted to help her and how much they really attacked her," said Khalil.
Dridi managed to escape when he and his colleague managed to run to a restaurant, where they closed the door. The two of them stayed there for hours, afraid to go out. But, they were lucky and escaped without injuries./Telegrafi/
