Sahar Azazi
August 19, 2025
It was 15 years ago in a village in the Egyptian governorate of Qalyubia, that Marina (not her real name) got married to the love of her life. She never would have imagined that the man she chose, and had three daughters with, would conspire to accuse her of adultery so that he could divorce her under Christian religious law, which allows divorce only on such grounds.
Marina’s husband invited one of his friends home and introduced him to his wife. This happened several times, she says, and each time the husband would ask her to join them and to put on the clothes she wore at home. She was puzzled as to why her husband was so insistent, to the extent of beating her if she refused: “Once, when I said no, he hit me with a tea tray.”
Marina found this unacceptable and, as things developed and the friend began to approach her in a way she felt was suspicious, she demanded her husband meet his friend outside the house. She said: “On my birthday, he brought me a cake and expensive presents. I couldn’t understand why my husband would allow a stranger to bring his wife a bottle of perfume. When I asked him about it, he said he was just like a brother to me.”
Marina says that her husband took advantage of private conversations they had together and presented them to the court as though they were between her and his friend.He also made fake audio clips: “He changed my voice. I was shocked that he made it out to look as if I would send such things to his friend.”
Marina is not the only woman to suffer cyber blackmail by her husband. Hanan (not her real name) was also threatened by her husband. He used his professional IT skills to provide evidence to the court alleging she had behaved indecently so as to force her to relinquish all her rights.
He managed to have her sentenced to a year in prison and pay a fine of around 10,000 pounds ($200), though she was acquitted on appeal after proving that the photos her husband had provided were fake. Essam Attia, her lawyer at the appeal court, says: “The husband falsely claimed that he had received a package from an international shipping company containing a CD with sexual images of his wife with other people and conversations of sexual nature. But we found out that the whole thing was made up.”
Lawyer Maha Abu Bakr maintains that there are many husbands who resort to cyber blackmail to force their wives to give up all their legal rights. They threaten to publish personal photos or videos taken of their wives, with or without their knowledge, taking advantage of the intimate marital relationship they once had. She adds: “There are husbands who are not seeking divorce, but just want to keep their wives as their personal property. If they want a divorce, some husbands threaten her using images she may have sent him while he was away travelling, or in response to his own.”
Other women, like Eman (not her real name) have been blackmailed after asking for a divorce. She says that, after being married for ten years, she decided to separate, because of her husband's illicit relationships and drug use. “He threatened me that if I filed for divorce, he would sue me for adultery. He beat me really badly… I have a medical report and a police report to prove it.” Eman says it became impossible to live with him after he sent messages to her sister accusing her of dishonour: “He told her that I was unfaithful and had lots of relationships... and he told my children that he knew things about me.”
After Marina she filed for alimony, custody, and guardianship, her husband went as far as kidnapping her young daughters, and even alleged that she had tortured and deliberately burned one of them. “I was given a jail sentence and I was acquitted only because of my daughter's evidence... he wasn't satisfied with what he had done, he even attacked my honour,” Marina says.
Article 25 of Egypt’s Information Technology Criminal Law No. 175 of 2018 states that "anyone who violates any of principles or family values of Egyptian society, or violates the sanctity of private life or sends electronic messages to a specific person without their consent, (...) or publishes, on the internet or any means of information technology, news or images and the like that violate the privacy of any person without their consent, whether the published information is true or false, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not less than six months and a fine of not less than fifty thousand pounds and not exceeding one hundred thousand pounds, or by one or other of these two sanctions. "
Marina's father calls for the law to be amended and for punishments to be more severe. He denounces husbands who make up false “online chats” or photos of their wives, something which destroys homes and tears whole families apart. He says, “To die would have been less painful for me than living through the time my daughter was accused of dishonour.” He points out that the internet has become a tool for any man to get rid of his wife, especially if they are Christians. “We can’t divorce, and so they make up a case of adultery against my daughter using fake recordings. If God hadn’t proved she was innocent, I’d never have been able to hold my head up again.”
According to the 2023 annual report from the Women's Complaints Office at the National Council for Women, 404 complaints were made for IT crimes, including 39 for falsification and fabrication. One woman, for example, filed a complaint against her ex-husband who had set up a Facebook account in her name, posted private photos and videos of the two of them, and then accused her of prostitution. The complaints office helped her file a report with the police internet investigations department. The case was referred to the economic court, where the man was sentenced to six months in prison, under the law.
Major General Ali Abaza, former head of the internet investigations office, says that the rate of cybercrime is increasing as the number of users and internet coverage goes up. He says that online blackmail is not the most common type of cybercrime, but is the most harmful, since it affects all members of society and the social damage it causes is more serious than that of other crimes.
The first cybercrimes were recorded in Egypt in 2002, according to Abaza, and were limited to insults and swearing. The remarkable spread of online crimes committed by husbands against their wives dates from 2016-2017, and they have varied over recent years: “Up to today there have been over 40,000 cybercrimes, of 28 different types… and the rate is increasing.”
He insists that if a report is made and found to be genuine, the accused is referred to the public prosecutor's office, which conducts its investigations in complete secrecy. “No-one has access to any of the information, while images are stored on secure flash drives and presented in court by a specialised technical officer. The victim is provided with security measures, until such time as she fully secures her rights.”
Lawyer Maha Abu Bakr points out that the law punishes a husband for blackmailing his wife in the same way as it would punish a stranger, without taking into account that he obtained items used for blackmail by virtue of being the victim’s husband and enjoying a special relationship with her. Abu Bakr calls for punishment to be more severe, because the victim had regarded the perpetrator as her protector and a source of support, and because of the affection and compassion between them. A husband’s betrayal of that trust, therefore, devastates the wife and makes her lose trust in those around her.
Marina told the writer of this report that, even after being acquitted, her suffering continued. She still has not been able to put behind her being accused of adultery by her daughters' father. She still wakes up with nightmares as a result of the trauma, which has left her in a bad mental state. “I’ve had difficult days which are nothing but terror and psychological pressure. I never dreamed such things would happen to me,” she says.
Hala Hammad, head of the psychological support unit at the “Muanath Salem” initiative, says that cyber blackmail has become widespread among couples and has become a means for a husband to pressure his wife, if she asks for a divorce or she uncovers his infidelity, among other things. The psychological effects on the wife include sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, and loss of self-confidence and trust in those closest to her, as well intense fear of social media. “Women seek psychological treatment to overcome the trauma,” says Hammad.
“Muanath Salem” initiative helps women who have gone through cyber blackmail with psychological and legal support sessions. Hala Hammad says, "Those who come to us have been blackmailed and are extremely fearful of society, of their families, and of everyone around them. We start by getting to know and understand their needs while reassuring them. We also give them legal help to protect them." She says there are often cases where the victims are overcome with suicidal thoughts. Because the blackmail has tarnished their reputation and they lackthe support network of family and friends, they look for a way to end their lives.
Major General Ali Abaza, former head of the internet investigations department, urges women who fall victim to cyber blackmail to document all the threats by keeping records of conversations, to report them immediately to the internet investigation department without fear, and to make a police report so that all necessary measures can be taken against the blackmailer.
Despite the three victims (Marina, Hanan, and Eman) being acquitted of charges made up by their blackmailing husbands relating to adultery and dishonour,, they still feel impacted by these accusations. Marina, in particular, feels they are like a millstone around her neck. They haunt her like a nightmare, because of the way society views her and her status as a divorcee: “It’d be better if I were a widow ... people have no mercy.”
This investigation was published in Arabic in: Al Manassa
