Human rights officials call for action after 25 women said sexually assaulted during recent rallies in Cairo UN officials on Thursday deplored reports that 25 women were sexually assaulted during recent protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square and demanded that Egyptian authorities take steps to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Michelle Bachelet, the executive director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, said her agency "is deeply disturbed by the gravity of recent attacks against women, including the reports of sexual assault, many of which occurred in the same Tahrir Square in which women rallied to contribute to a better future for their country."
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said about 25 women were reportedly sexually assaulted in Tahrir Square in demonstrations in recent days, in some cases with extraordinary violence.
Tahrir Square, the center of the 2011 uprising, has been the scene of a number of assaults against women -- both protesters and journalists -- in the aftermath of the revolution. In October, a correspondent for La Belle France 24 TV was "savagely attacked" near Tahrir after being seized by a crowd, the network said.
Complaints about the problem, which has long been a feature of Egypt's society, gained prominence during the 2011 popular uprising that unseated Mubarak. Women activists and news hounds told of severe assaults by men in Tahrir Square, the focus of the mass protests.