Methodology
This report sheds light on the plight of women and girls who were residing in the areas seized by ISIS-Sinai Province, and then arrested and charged in cases known in the media as “Sinai Province” or “ISIS” cases.
This report is based on data of 106 women and 6 girls who were arrested between 2018 and 2022 and included in 24 cases (6 cases before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, 15 cases before Military Prosecutions and Courts, 3 cases before the Public Prosecutions and Misdemeanour Courts). Belady selected a sample of 94 women and girls, wherein sufficient data was available. From that sample, 19 were asked about their personal and family lives in matters relating to the cases in which they are charged, and 26 were asked a set of other documentary questions. The report also includes an additional sample consisting of two women, a girl, and a young man who was from, or used to reside, with the North Sinai tribes.
Belady has collected this data using several methods including interviews conducted with a number of former women prisoners and their families between 2019 and 2022, interviews conducted with individuals residing in North Sinai Governorate in December 2022, and interviews with direct secondary sources between 2019 and 2022. Belady also relied on indirect secondary sources such as follow-ups on press, news websites, and social media, and follow-ups on reports, statistics, and observational data by civil society organizations concerned with Sinai Province.
Belady faced a number of difficulties in writing this report including obtaining accurate and detailed information about the way and order of life within the North Sinai Governorate- whose residents suffer from continuous marginalization by the Egyptian authorities and the media. Another obstacle is the absence of any official information on the situation of women and girls in Sinai governorate, which is worsened by the policy of complete blackout pursued by the Egyptian authorities. In addition, Belady faced difficulty in reaching the women and girls in question, either because they are in Egyptian prisons or because they decline to provide information after their release for security reasons. Communication with the families was also difficult due to the limited means of communication in North Sinai, or due to their refusal to participate due to security considerations.
It should be noted that Belady filed a complaint with the United Nations on July 31st, 2022, against the violations committed by the Egyptian authorities regarding the rehabilitation and integration of women and girls charged in the ISIS and Sinai Province cases.
To view the full Report: Sinai Women and Girls in the Grip of Violence
