The Personal Status Law and its amendments are issues that generate huge reactions on social media whenever they  are even mentioned. Regardless of what is actually said, or in what context, it always provokes a violent reaction.

Female journalists and feminist activists know that talking about this law is to enter a “hornet's nest.” A feminist activist, Aya Mounir, for example, was subjected to online violence when she used her “Superwomen” Facebook group to discuss issues like equal inheritance, divorce in absentia, and guardianship rights.

Women in Peril

The Egyptian Court of Cassation defines personal status as “all the characteristics that distinguish one individual from another, whether natural or familial, to which the law has assigned legal status in the person’s social life: being male or female, married or widowed, divorced or legally a father; having full legal capacity or limited capacity due to young age, disability, mental impairment, or having full legal competency or limited competency for a particular legal reason."

According to researcher Sayed Mahmoud, the Personal Status Law was adopted in 1883 as a civil law, almost identical to the equivalent French law of 1804, after Islamic law had previously been applied to all aspects of life.

Although the Personal Status Law has been amended many times since its enactment, it still fails to address many controversial issues, especially those related to women.

Dr. Fattouh El Shazli, professor in the Faculty of Law at Alexandria University, wrote about a these issues in an article published on the website of the National Council for Women. They include the question of the wife’s obedience to the husband, the prevention of underage marriage, the punishment of the wife, and polygamy.

Ever since the start of the internet in 1992, these issues have turned women rights activists and journalists into targets of online violence. IGI Global defines such violence as “using digital devices or online services to engage in activities that cause physical, psychological, or emotional harm, or to hurt another person.”

Aya Mounir, founder of the SuperWoman group, advocates a civil personal status law based on the principle of equality, in line with the constitution. In doing so, however, she has become a target of various forms of digital violence, including insults posted on Facebook, and the publication of personal and family photos.

Activists are not the only ones who face digital violence when they discuss the personal status law. It also happens to female journalists covering women's issues, , the law and its amendments. One such journalist is Asma Hammad, who says she is subjected to “violent” attacks from men on social media every time she discusses one of the provisions of the law.

She says she has faced worse treatment. After she criticised the idea of men marrying a second wife without the first wife knowing, she received anonymous threatening phone calls. She says that she has also been bullied by her colleagues and had some of her articles rejected for publication.

Some believe that discussions around amendments to personal status laws are directly related to religion, which is why threats are glaringly religious in tone . For example, one of Aya Mounir’s online attackers went so far as branding her an atheist and calling for her execution for writing about the personal status law. “He said that I should face religious punishment as I was an atheist.”

Similar threats are made in other faith communities, and are also religious in tone. For several years, journalist Marianne Sami has been writing about Christian personal status issues, and calling for civil marriage and divorce. She believes that the church's failure to resolve issues related to personal status is causing social problems, like an increase in couple separation without rights being safeguarded, or one party trying to kill the other, because divorce in the Orthodox Church (the largest Christian denomination in Egypt) is only permitted on the grounds of adultery, which is difficult to prove.

Marianne has suffered numerous incidents of digital abuse. She was accused of treason and of not being a Christian. She has been insulted and slandered, and her family has been pressured by priests to make her stop writing.

Give in to Pressure or Resist

This constant pressure is certainly having a negative impact on female journalists and activists and may make some of them stop writing. The way they respond will vary from one to another. Aya Munir says, “At first, it affected me very, very badly. I would get depressed and cry for days on end from the stress and other things. I was scared my family would tell me to stop writing, because of all the insults.”

Marianne Sami faces pressure from her family. From time to time, they sit down with her and try to convince her to stop writing about this topic because of offensive comments online among reasons.

Asma Hammad tried not to write on this topic, because of its negative effects, after she suffered a bout of depression brought on by psychological pressure. “I decided to take a step back, but I can't stop completely. Despite all this suffering, I’m going to keep talking about this law.”

The impact of the abuse directed at female journalists and activists cannot be ignored or down played. The International Federation of Journalists published a survey on “the massive impact of online abuse on women journalists” which found that 64 percent of female journalists have been abused online. The majority,63 percent, said that this abuse caused psychological damage, such as anxiety or stress; because of which eight percent of women lost their jobs.

I spoke out about digital violence, and then it happened to me!

Journalist Aya Yasser took it upon herself to expose Telegram groups that deliberately defame women, and spread fake images and personal information about them, whether they are just users of social media, feminist activists, or journalists. She wrote two articles about these groups and the psychological and real-life effects this leaves on victims. Some women have been forced to close down their social media accounts. This, in turn has affected their professional lives, since promoting their journalistic work on these platforms is essential  to gain greater visibility.

Aya thought that, by doing this, she was just fulfilling her duty as a journalist. But little did she know she would become a victim herself of these groups, who retaliated for the audacity she showed in exposing the truth about them. Not only did Aya and her family face several online threats, but they also received anonymous phone calls aimed at silencing her. “It was all about me exposing the network.. it wasn’t easy,” says Aya.

After the articles were published, and with the help of some of Aya's friends, one of these groups was shut down. But she never made an official complaint or took any legal action against these campaigns targeting her.

Eman Ouf is also a journalist and a founding member of Egyptian Women Journalists, a group of female journalists concerned with women's rights and female journalists in particular. She says there are repeated instances of online violence against female journalists and activists, because of their coverage of women's rights issues: “It wasn't just Aya, there have been many others.”

Ouf says that Egyptian Women Journalists gives support to female journalists who experience online violence. This includes technical support using specialised institutions, psychological support provided by volunteer psychiatrists, and putting out statements of support and solidarity.

The key question is what can female journalists and activists do when they find themselves subjected to digital violence and who can they turn to for help?

We found several organizations that provide support to female journalists who are victims of online violence, including the Egyptian Observatory for Journalism and Media (EOJM), an Egyptian civil society organisation that aims to defend press and media freedoms.

The EOJM has a legal unit that provides legal support to female journalists in dealing both with the public prosecutor and in court. It can also give other types of support, depending on each case, according to appeal lawyer Ahmed Abdel Latif, who works in the EOJM's legal support unit.

The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate (EJS) remains the official body which journalists can turn to when they are subjected to these kinds of campaigns. Duaa El-Naggar, who is on the board of the EJS and heads its Women’s Committee, says the syndicate provides various forms of support to journalists: “The committee deals with all forms and types of violence, as well as other problems faced by female journalists, whether or not they are members of the syndicate.”

Duaa emphasised that the syndicate is committed to protecting women who make complaints and, if they want to, will conceal their identities when they encounter problems. She says that, in all cases, the Women's Committee provides legal support to female colleagues facing problems, large or small, and makes sure they receive all their rights.

Where is the Law?

Victims of online violence can take legal action through internet investigations departments. But lawyer Hala Doma warns that this approach can breach the privacy of complainants, since they must open their social media accounts on the officer's computer when they make an official report. And they have to put in their email address and password, so that the officer can examine the allegations and take the necessary screenshots.

Hala Douma says that prosecutors simply file away 80 percent of such reports, or leave them pending for months or years, and then close them. hey rarely make it to court.