In February of 2011 during the Arab Spring protests in Egypt, Lara Logan, an American reporter from CBS, was brutally assaulted as she was in Tahrir Square covering the protest. Although not raped, she was groped by a mob of men and all of her clothes were ripped from her body. As she lay naked, the mob took pictures with their cell phones and beat her with flagpoles and sticks. “What really struck me was how merciless they were. They really enjoyed my pain and suffering. It incited them to more violence,” she said. Eventually a group of Muslim women accompanied by Egyptian soldiers rescued her from the attack.
In October of 2012 a similar attempt in Tahrir Square was caught on tape as journalist, Sonia Dridi from France 24 was attacked and groped as she was giving a live report. In video footage of her report, you can see her being pushed off the screen as the mob moves in. Her colleague, Ashraf Khalil was able to help her escape. And last month, a female Dutch journalist was attacked and gang raped by 5 men in Tahrir Square. She had to have surgery for severe injuries.
Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah, an Egyptian Salafist (a member of a literal, strict, fundamental sect of Islam) said the women protesting in Tahrir Square were not going to protest but rather they were there because they wanted to be raped.
A vigilante group tracking the incidents in Egypt recorded 46 cases of sexual assault and harassment against women in one night, and the UN Entity for Gender Equality reported that 99.3% of Egyptian women that they interviewed had been victims of some form of sexual violence. In Egypt and other nations operating under Islamic sharia law, rape victims do not go to the hospital or the police. The police treat the female victims of rape as criminals, because under sharia law in order to prove rape the rapist must confess or four adult Muslim men must witness the crime and testify that the sex was not consensual.
Two young western women learned this difficult lesson after being raped in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While on a business trip to Dubai a 25-year-old Norwegian woman was raped. She reported the rape to the police, but the Dubai authorities confiscated her passport and charged her. Yesterday, she was sentenced to serve 16 months for illicit sex outside of marriage.
In a similar case, Australian Alicia Gali was hired as the spa and beauty salon manager at a beach resort in the UAE. One evening her room began to flood from the bathroom drain. Maintenance came and fixed it, but it began to flood again. She left her room and was using her laptop in the hotel’s staff bar where her drink was spiked. She woke up the next afternoon in her room to discover three men had raped her. She was in pain with multiple bruises and broken ribs so she went to the hospital. Later it was discovered her drain had been intentionally blocked with a man’s shirt and a plastic bag. After going to the hospital she reported the rape to the police. She gave her statement and then after signing a document written in Arabic that she thought was her statement, she was taken to an Islamic court. In actuality she signed a confession. She was sentenced to 11 months in prison for sex outside of marriage and one month for drinking alcohol. The three rapists received similar sentences.
Prayer Points:
It is vital we educate our children and grandchildren, especially those who may travel to an Islamic nation. Pray that western youth will be open to hear the truth about Islamic sharia law. Pray that they will understand that uncovering the teachings of Islam is wisdom and is not a condemnation on any of the Muslim people.
Pray that leaders in western nations will realize that Islamic sharia law is in total opposition to freedom and democracy and take their stand against the advancement of this type of law that it is being promoted in our democracies.
Pray for protection for women in nations such as Egypt and the UAE – Muslim and non-Muslim. Thank God for people like the Muslim women and members of the Egyptian military who helped to rescue western women from attacks.
Best Current News 
It is a frightening shame that any woman would be so uninformed as to convert to Islam. Christians are blamed for being sexist, but St. Paul always encouraged respect and kindness toward women.