July 31, 2024
Naira Salah El-Zoghbi, who became known as “the El-Arish girl” had not turned 18 yet when she unexpectedly paid a price with her life for the “treachery of friends.” So as not to live a life under threat, she decided she would rather commit suicide..
Public opinion was roused by Naira’s suicide, which came after she was threatened and blackmailed by "Shorouk" and "Taha," two of her fellow students at El-Arish University in North Sinai Governorate (northeastern Egypt). It was this that prompted her suicide, the Public Prosecution argued in this case - No. 675 of 2024.
Naira is not the only female minor who has faced cyber blackmail. Among the many similar cases are 17-year-old Basant Khaled, who committed suicide in December 2021, and 14-year-old Heidi Shahta, who killed herself in January 2022. Both had faced the same ordeal.
According to Mohammed Elyamani, who set up the “Qawem” [resist] initiative to fight blackmail in Egypt, a large number of the victims are underage girls. His organization deals with at least five such cases per month, and these numbers go up during Ramadan, now dubbed the “season of blackmail.”
Elyamani explains that, according to the law, it is the guardian who must file the report in a case involving a minor. The Qawem initiative, therefore, tries various ways to reach an amicable solution (details of which he did not disclose) by forcing the blackmailer to sign a statement, which is video taped, promising not to approach the victim again.
A study conducted in 2024 by “Speak Up,”a women's initiative to support victims of all forms of violence, found 3,176 cases of blackmail. Ninety percent were women and only 10 percent of them made official reports, either because they did not know they could report it or because they were afraid of their families and of the consequences of reporting a blackmailer. The study also found that 10.3 percent of girls born between 2006 and 2010 had been subjected to blackmail.
Seventeen year old Suheila Mahmoud (not her real name) fell prey to cyber blackmail through Facebook in 2023, at a time when family problems made her feel neglected. As soon as she found someone who showed interest in her, she confided in him, not knowing that he would use this as a weapon against her. During the three months they were in contact, he pretended to support and care for her. She told him about her family and all about her life, her weaknesses and her fear of her father.This made her vulnerable to exploitation and threats.
Suheila says she was taken by surprise when her partner asked her for private photos and threatened to tell her family of their relationship and disclose family secrets if she refused to send him the photos. Suheila did not dare to tell her family as she feared her father’s reaction.. So she sought the help from her uncle (who was close to her in age). After he had spoken to the blackmailer, things got worse and he continued making threats.
“I thought of killing myself,” said Suheila, sobbing as she told the researcher of feelings of despair following the blackmailer's relentless threats. When she told her friends what had happened, one of them suggested reporting it to the police. But fear of involving the family made her turn to another friend, who suggested hacking the blackmailer's phone. They did this and it worked, and all the conversations between them were deleted, ending the blackmail threat.
Even though the relationship with the blackmailer ended, the psychological effects of the experience remain with her even seven months later. Suheila says she learned a lot from the experience. Even though it was difficult, she still blames herself constantly.
In her modest home in the village of Meet Tarif, in the Dikirnis district of Dakahlia Governorate, we met the mother of Naira (the El-Arish girl). She was still in mourning and dressed in black since losing her daughter on February 24, 2024.
Naira’s mother was unaware of what her daughter had been through before her death. But a week later she began to learn the news and information from her friends and saw some of the threatening messages on Naira's phone.
Weeping with grief and regret, the mother recounted the details of what happened. Despite the strong friendship between them, Naira did not tell her mother about the threats and blackmail she was facing. She thinks the reason her daughter kept silent was that she was afraid her mother might react badly, and stop her from going back to university. This is borne out by the fact that Naira did not disclose that she had failed to get high grades in her first semester, and that her mother had previously said if she failed to get good grades, she would not be allowed to continue her studies.
In the light of this, it is easy to imagine the pressure Naira was under from her “blackmailing classmates,” Shorouk and Taha, and how scared she was that her family would find out what was going on.
Egyptian lawyer Ahmed El-Gadami explains that if a minor who is a victim of blackmail tries to file a report with the police cybercrime unit, they will reject it, unless a “guardian” is there to make the report. The consequences of this are something victims are fearful of.
El-Gadami points to another mechanism that could provide a solution: the Child Helpline that is run by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood. But no-one knows about it.
It is an anomaly, as El-Gadami explains, that children under 15 are unable to appoint a lawyer or bring a claim “(financial) child support” against their father or grandparents under the family law. El-Gadami wonders why it is taking so long to implement a clear and explicit proposal that allows underage victims of extortion to report it and seek legal assistance without the involvement of a guardian.
El-Gadami recounts a real-life case he was involved in which involved a 15-year-old girl who was blackmailed by a young man in his twenties with whom she was romantically involved. Problems started when he threatened to publish naked photos which she had sent him at her own accord. She was overcome with fear and in the end decided to tell her father that she was being blackmailed. He made plans to have the man arrested and when his daughter arranged to meet the blackmailer at Ramses Square in Cairo, her father, with help of some local people, took him to the police station. Initially, the prosecutor empathised with the victim and her father, classifying the case as assault and referred it to the criminal court.
The victim’s father, however, became the “accused” after he attacked the blackmailer as he was being arrested. After the perpetrator made a confession, the court ruled that he should only face a fine, out of compassion for the father.
The author of this report drew up a questionnaire which was given to
46 minors from seven different governorates in Egypt. The findings were that 30.4 percent of the sample had been blackmailed online, and that 60 percent of these had given into the demands of the blackmailer. 95 percent were unaware of the legal rights of victims, and 82.6 percent did not know that the Child Helpline was one of the national entities where victims could file complaints.
Entisar Elsaeed, a lawyer at the Court of Cassation and director of the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law, confirms that if the woman reporting a complaint is a minor (under 18), a parent or guardian must be present to file the report, as this is a legal matter. But, in most cases, girls refuse to tell their family.
Elsaeed argues that a specialised unit should be set up, with specific criteria, to protect girls from violence. This unit would have the power to deal directly with victims, as is the case in other countries such as Kuwait. There, they have an effective unit which receives complaints made by phone in complete confidentiality, whatever the age of the complainant, while dealing directly with the perpetrator.
There are many problems with the law on extortion, according to Elsaeed. She says that she herself saw a case at the cybercrime unit of a girl who fell victim to online violence and was forced to recount the incident several times, which makes it even more of an ordeal for victims of digital violence.
Elsaeed adds that there are many cases of girls under 21 who have contacted the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law, because they have been blackmailed and were referred to the Child Helpline, but have not been treated well, according to Elsaeed.
Based on claims that the Child Helpline failed to respond to calls, the author of this report decided to conduct a personal experiment. She tried calling the Child Helpline (16000) for seven days in a row, but no one answered. She tried again and finally one of the male specialists answered the hotline. After shehad explained that an underage girl, who is a friend of hers, was being blackmailed, he advised that she tell her parents. Shetried to ask him whether there was any other solution, given the difficulty girls have in telling their parents and the risks involved; he insisted there was no other way forward. This points to a real problem with the competence of those who take calls from victims.
Sabri Othman, director of the Child Helpline, did not respond to phone calls or messages asking for comments on her experience while trying to call the helpline.
“Family silence” is the term used by Dr. Abla El-Badri, professor of sociology and consultant on women's and children's rights, to describe the main cause of the prevalence of blackmail of minors. El-Badri argues that lack of communication within the family and the failure to listen to the needs and problems of young girls prompts them to seek intimacy and communication outside the family, which puts them at risk of exploitation and blackmail.
El-Badri believes that with girls committing suicide because of blackmail and fear of telling their families, it is vital to start educating girls, through social media, about the importance of reporting instances of extorsion and not giving in to the demands of the blackmailer. She also argues that the media can play an effective role in raising awareness, and that families must support girls when they are subjected to blackmail and protect them until the problem is solved.
Dr. Olfat Allam, a psychotherapist and addiction consultant, and an international expert in gender, family, and couples therapy, agrees. She says that girls who attempt suicide do so because they find themselves going down the psychological path of terror and fear of scandal, and see no other solution seems available to them. In cases of blackmail and bullying, the victim feels despair and rejection and tries to end the problem herself. But for those who find help and support, their lives can change, and solving the crisis can be a turning point enabling them to live more positively.
This report was published in Arabic as an exclusive in Al Manassa
