June 9, 2015 – Reported by The Guardian – “They’re she-males!” declared the Egyptian police officers after raiding Aisha’s home. Along with three friends she was arrested and taken to the police station, where the beatings began.
“He [the police officer] beat up my friend with an electric stick. He was hitting her on her head, on her stomach, on her butt, everywhere; she was screaming,” claims Aisha.
Aisha is one of many transgender women who have been targeted in Egypt since 2014. More than 150 transgender people, women in particular, have been arrested, says Scott Long, a gender and rights activist who has been actively documenting the crackdown
The day after they were detained Aisha and her flatmates were sent to court, and on 1 April 2014 she was sentenced to three years in prison – the maximum sentence under Egypt’s debauchery laws…story continues below…
via Beatings, abuse and blame: being transgender in Egypt | World news | The Guardian.
