Middle East’s Metoo moment as alleged rapists are outed online
CAMPAIGNERS have hailed a rare victory against sexual violence in the Middle East after prosecutors in Iran and Egypt announced the arrest of alleged rapists named online by women.
Victims of sexual assault in conservative Muslim societies have used social media to identify their alleged tormentors in a series of high-profile cases inspired by the Metoo movement.
In Tehran, Hossein Rahimi, a police chief, announced the arrest of Keyvan Emamverdi, a former art student of Tehran University, who stands accused of multiple counts of rape.
Dozens of women had launched an online campaign to accuse Mr Emamverdi, who owns a bookshop close to the university, of luring them to his house and getting them intoxicated before allegedly raping them.
After one alleged victim used Twitter to name Mr Emamverdi with the hashtag “#rape”, at least 20 others exposed him as their assailant. One of his cousins also came forward to say she feared being “molested” by him.
Mr Emamverdi’s arrest became a trending story on Iranian social media yesterday, with women applauding that the case had been investigated.
“The achievement in this story is not his arrest, but the situation that will be created afterwards so victims of rape cases can talk about [their experiences],” one user said.
There were also posts in support of the former student. One wrote: “Keyvan Emam [sic] was one of my close friends. He was the most moral and best friend. Why do you judge him onesided? Shame on you.”
The case comes after Egypt’s public prosecutor this week issued arrest warrants and a travel ban for six men accused of an alleged gang rape of an 18-year-old woman at a luxury hotel six years ago. The suspects were also “outed” on social media last month. The lack of any previous action against the men – said to be from powerful families – caused an outcry after details of the woman’s alleged 2014 ordeal were posted on an Egyptian Instagram account with 180,000 followers.
Earlier this month, prosecutors questioned the alleged victim, who was reportedly drugged before the men raped her, after several people came forward to give statements.
The “Assault Police” Instagram account, which revealed the case, previously accused Ahmed Bassam Zaki, 24, a university student from a wealthy family, of raping and blackmailing multiple women. He was subsequently arrested. Egyptian prosecuters claim Mr Zaki has admitted to using indecent photographs to threaten women but denies further allegations.
Reda Eldanoubki, a lawyer and executive director of the Women’s Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness, said: “We hope women will make more gains in their endeavours to be legally protected against sexual violence.”