Egyptian women denounce sexual violence targeting female protesters in Cairo

Egyptian women gather to denounce sexual violence and harassment against women in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. Mob-led sexual assaults targeting Egypt’s female protesters could increase if perpetrators are not punished, an international rights group warned on Wednesday. Amnesty International said statements from victims show that the assaults follow a “clear pattern,” where mobs of men encircle the victims, assault them with weapons and hands and then try to undress them. Amnesty’s warning followed a statement from the U.N. human rights office, which last week said that about 25 women were reportedly sexually assaulted “in some cases with extraordinary violence” in Cairo’s Tahrir Square during recent demonstrations against Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. <AP/Virginie Nguyen Hoang>