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Egypt: Christian women often targeted by Islamic extremists for kidnapping, forced conversion, forced marriage

September 13, 2020

Persecution of Christians in Egypt: forced conversion of Christian women in Egypt is an ongoing problem, and reports of it continue to increase. Most of the victims and their families charge that Egyptian police frequently refuse to help the victims, and even side with the kidnappers.

Egypt’s small and courageous Greek Orthodox Christian community is as vulnerable to this persecution as are the rest of Egypt’s Christians. The ongoing mistreatment of Coptic Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Christians in Egypt is an issue of immense importance that nevertheless receives scant attention from the UN or international human rights organizations. Please pray that the Christian community in Egypt will be able to endure this martyrdom and experience a resurrection, and that relief will come to this courageous and long-suffering Christian community.

For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Egypt, see here.

“New Report on Coptic Kidnappings,” International Christian Concern, September 13, 2020:

09/13/2020 Egypt (International Christian Concern) – Coptic Solidarity has released a new report entitled Jihad of the Womb’: Trafficking of Coptic Women & Girls in Egypt. Most of Egypt’s Christian community are Coptic Orthodox. The report details Egypt’s obligations regarding human rights, specifically as it relates to trafficking, and compares with Egypt’s record as it relates to the Christian community. It finds Egypt has significant culpability in the trafficking of Christian women.

Christian women and girls are often targeted by Islamic extremists. They are either kidnapped, or tricked into a relationship with a Muslim man. In both cases, the outcome is complete separation from their family, a forced conversion to Islam, and often a forced marriage to a different Muslim man. The police often fail to investigate these cases or to hold the perpetrators accountable.

It is difficult to know accurate statistics on how widespread these incidents are although these problems are widely reported in several Christian communities, mostly in Upper Egypt. A failure of accurate police documentation is one reason, as well as police intimidation towards families who speak publicly about their missing relative….