>> this is "bbc newsnight." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business. offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc newsnight."

>> they were at the heart of the revolution, so why aren't women at the heart of the new egypt? ♪ >> this week, more than a year after the overthrow of hosni mubarak, we examine how the arab spring soured for egyptian women. many played leading roles in the mass protests that toppled the government. many say they were sexually abused by the security forces for doing so. >> if you take to the streets in the name of revolution or call for freedom or social justice, they were telling us we will violate your honor. >> behind the veneer of a modern state, the horrific procedure that exists, taking lives. >> circumcision is healthy for girls. i know this.

pyrrophyte girls grow taller and a good marriage proposals. unpure five girls stay short and stubby. -- >> hello appeared more than a year on from the revolution, egypt is still a country of violent outbursts and with an uncertain future. the military maintains a tight grip on power. despite the recent parliamentary elections, there are doubts there will honor their promise to hand over to a civilian government in the summer. the revolution was often symbolized by young is secular arab women demanding political change and new opportunities. but in the first of two special reports, we get explanation why one year on, it is wittmann who feel most betrayed by the right things have turned out. >> tahrir square has lost the drama and the crowds. recent demonstrations of moved on to was that individual ministries in the city, leaving

a forlorn scene of abandonment. and for women, broken dreams. a far cry from the early days when the women of egypt defied the stereotypes and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with men in support of the revolution. but from the beginning, this was deemed unacceptable by those who were and still are in charge. >> i had been there because i wanted to bring about all the aims of the revolution. in new constitution, justice, and to see mubarak put on trial along with other guilty ones in the interior ministry. >> on march 9, the army attacked a group of women, including this one, outside the kentucky fried chicken on the edge of the square. they were dragged by their hair, handcuffed to the railings, and then taken to the military prison and beaten and tortured.

she says some died, and a woman's doctor carried out of virginity tests on those who survived. >> she told me to take off my clothes in the room, which was open, and carried out the test in front of the soldiers who were watching. laughing and clapping, as if it was some type of spectacle. it humiliated me. i went to the square to call for freedom, and they're making me pay the price. >> the one and it said the military officer in charge wants to test you himself. i was made to strip again. this was sexual abuse. if a man forces you to take your clothes off and put his hand into your private areas and leave it there for five minutes, this is sexual aggression. i felt utterly defeated. >> what do you think there were trying to tell you and the others by treating you in this way? >> if you take to the streets in the name of the revolution or

call for freedom or social justice, they were -- they were telling us they will violate your honor. >> using a bizarre kind of logic, the army later admitted they had ordered the tests because men and women had been in the square together. the army did not want to be blamed for any woman who might have lost her virginity in a country where a woman found to be not a virgin before marriage can ruin her reputation for life. >> up to 20 or so women who work bridge and the tested, no one is sure of the exact number, she is the only one who have taken the matter to court and to return here to tahrir square. none of the other women have been seen here again. as you can see from a very few women are here now. >> nine months later, the scandal of the virginity test and was matched only by the savage beating of a woman whose clothing was torn back to

richvale her bra. it was suggested she was a conservative, and men and women marched in outrage. at about this time, one of the leaders of the protest was recognized, and some officers approached her and asked her to negotiate with a major general waiting added nearby government building. she agreed. >> they pushed me in a room which turned out to be the torture room. people were already inside being beaten and violated. they made me join them. the officers were using those tips to brutally beat us, and they were enjoying what they were doing. and asked us, what hurts the most? it was clear they were targeting girls more than anyone else to make us afraid and be closed. they wanted to make men in the

square feel humiliated and defeated for being unable to protect us. >> women may have been frightened into taking a lower profile in the square, the north of cairo, a 43-year-old doctor and mother of four is being mopped like a pop star. the newly elected mp of the muslim brotherhood is going on a walkabout of her constituency. >> why do they like you so much? >> i was born here, she explains, and people know and like me. she will fight for their rights. that is why we voted for her, said this woman. their last mp made promises but did nothing. this is a respected local doctor, but she is also reaping the benefit of what the muslim brotherhood was doing at the local level. building up their support during the mubarak years. they built the hospitals, people

tell you. shelter the orphans and handed out food to the port. -- poor. >> i know she is able to do a lot. the party suffered in the past. i hope she will work to make us happier and by this country better. >> but the muslim brotherhood is known as a party that expects women to dress modestly and preferably stay at home. but will she fight for women's rights? >> from now on, i believe that we will see a change. we will see the start of real democracy here in egypt in a way that allows all citizens, including women, to join in, knowing that the new politics is not corrupted and based on rights for all. therefore, i think that the participation of women and their impact in the parliament in the coming time will be completely different. >> she is so genuine and

reassuring, you want to hug her. but as a woman mp, she is part of a tiny minority. only nine women were elected to sit in the 508-seat parliament colleges dominated by their bearded colleagues. more than 70% of the seats are held by the muslim brotherhood. and by the more hard-line party. ironically, there were more women here during the mubarak era. the women had a quota of 64 seats. the islamic parties are in charge in egypt today, which makes a former tv presenter an unlikely candidate in the next presidential election. we caught up with her on the campaign trail. she is standing, she says, because she wants to give people the idea of where women could go one day.

but she must know that a non- headscarf wearing a female presidential candidate does not stand a chance in egypt today. and surely the new parliament, with just nine women mp's, only goes to show that women in egypt do not vote for women. >> women make up 60% of the egyptian society. the percentage of literacy among women is 70%. many women did not know how to vote. and the number of female candidates was very low. >> besides, all the political alliances have an islamic bias on the status of women. a committee has been created without a single woman on it. the war is for women's rights. >> did a more secular women of egypt have reason to be fearful? i ask the spokesman for the salafi party, but he wanted to

talk about the rights of religious women, those to completely cover themselves. >> what about the woman who covers herself, who has been so discriminated against in the past? prevented from entering university are being honored the teaching staff. also, they were not allowed to work in television. in medical professions, they suffered systematic persecution. the islamic parties have 75% of the parliament. no one will be forced into anything. but we now have a greater chance to advise women of the rules of our religion, such as wearing a head scarf. >> is egypt about to become an iran or saudi arabia in its treatment of women? no one knows quite what to expect when the new government is due to take over in the summer, but some women are nervous.

in alexandria, egypt's second city, a lawyer and human rights activist is taking radical action. she is setting up another parliament. >> women were just used as a voting blocs in these last elections, and we do not have alexandriap's from and in the new parliament. so we decided to create a follow-up parliament which will consist of mostly women and some men and youths in order to assure the national responsibility with the members of the official parliament. and also to watch what they do. >> at the first meeting of the working party of the so-called parallel parliament, the woman could be forgiven for asking who is going to listen to us. the fear is no one. but they conclude it will be

good practice. we will be in a better position to field candidates for the next parliamentary elections, they say, whenever that might be. many women here are being asked to wait for what they hoped would be the rewards of their revolution. not least the women who were here in the square, who complain that they got beaten up just like the men, and it is not fair that they should be sent back home. the military doctors seen here in the maroon sweater accused of carrying out forced virginity tests was acquitted by a military tribunal two weeks ago. she says she will continue to pursue her case in the court. she says for her and women like her, the battle continues. >> the army and the muslim brotherhood are in control here. and the reason why women were not elected is because the

revolution is not over. it is still going on. >> now when you think it egypt, perhaps you visualize and modern functioning state with people brave and bold enough to rise up against a dictator. you might be shocked to learn that the latest figures on how many egyptian women have suffered female genital mutilation. 90%. the practice has been officially banned in egypt for the last four years with campaigners determined to persuade people not to emulate their daughters. now they fear that recent events might said the back. here is sue-lord roberts again, and you may find her report disturbing. ♪ >> it is scarcely believable as you mingle among the evening shoppers in cairo for the

appearance of another cosmopolitan city in the world. but nearly all the women here have been deliberately mutilated. new figures due out later this year are expected to show a decline in the number of female emulations four years after the ban was introduced. but it still indicates that a majority of women in this country suffer huge physical, psychological, and unjustified paint and are denied what most women regard as a normal sex life. upper egypt where the landscape along the nile has not changed in centuries. nor has the tradition which believes that a family's honor is dependent on the removal of those parts of a girl's body that might arouse sexual desire. to challenge such a belief in an environment in which sex is never spoken about in public,

this campaigner goes from house- to-house. >> talking to people is what we do. we have to know how to reach out to people and how to discuss this issue with them. >> it is a village where muslims live side-by-side with christians, and both communities practice fgm. >> i have had problems in my sexual relationship with my husband because of it. when it was explained about the health complications and how it is not part of religious faith, i was convinced. i now do not want my daughter circumcised. >> but the muslim mother next door is not. the two older girl cousins have been mutilated, and her 11-year- old daughter will be next. >> i will read it -- i will

remove this part of her body instead of letting her play with herself or she might ask the boy to touch this part and she might enjoy it. in my be a stranger or a male cousin. this will protect appeared when she feels the pain of it, she will be more careful with this part. >> often, it is the husband's family who demanded. others say they can give their daughters married without it. >> no one comes and checks. these days, the midwife just arrived secretly, does it, and leaves in a hurry so was no one sees her because it is illegal. >> but we found nothing secretive about the village midwife. >> circumcision is healthy for girls. i know this. purified girls grow taller and get marriage proposals. but the others stay short and

stubby. >some women said it will not have their daughters pyrrophyte. they humor the social worker until she leaves. once she is gone, they come to ask me to circumcise their girls. >> i have her mother, her aunt, for neighbors hold her while i cut her. >> do you enjoy your work? >> i loved it like my own eyes, because i need the money. take me to prison if you want to irritate me anywhere, but i will keep circumcising girls. i want the money. >> and so why it andnave -- why doesn't naveen who works for a local ngo to the limit for a police station? >> who are we going to report to? in police stations, we would

report to an officer believes in the custom and is probably doing it to his own daughter. >> without support from the authorities, campaigners take the message into the classrooms. they engage children at a young age to gain their confidence, and when they're older, they taught about fgm. salma says she saved more than 100 girls this way. she is motivated by what happened to her. >> they did my elder sister first. i was the middle. and the youngest was after me. the midwife came with two large accomplices and out of the by my hand and feet so she could hold me down. i tried to hit one of them but cannot. i was only 10. i screamed, but they gagged me, so my little sister would not hear the pain.

afterwards i screamed all day. i spent two days recovering. it was terrible. to this day, i shudder from the memory. >> she invited 13-year-old saba, whose older sister had already been mutilated, to her teaching. >> i spoke to my mom and older everything i learned. i spoke to her politely to convince her. luckily, it worked. there are no actual benefits to circumcision. people just think that way. she was convinced. >> because people believe it is part of their faith, campaigners appeal to local religious leaders for help. they try, they say, but it is difficult to change people. >> the main challenge is a

tradition. in the old testament when god ordered abraham to circumcise, it was only for boys. there was no mention of female circumcision. but in our tradition, circumcision is performed on girls as well. we pray that god will help us in reaching people with the truth. >> the local imam explain that muslim leaders are trying hard to get the message heard. >> we are now spreading the word against fgm, because it is against our faith. we're telling people not to do it. >> it appeared that the local religious leaders were in agreement until the arrival of a more senior cleric. refusing to look any, he gave his view. >> the prophet said it, peace be with them. so this is legalized by islamic

law. >> egypt's most senior religious figure issued a fatwa against fgm a few years ago. yet those below him contradict one another. no wonder the people are confused. ♪ >> whatever stand religious leaders might take, female genital mutilation is and melanie-old tradition here. there is evidence that was practiced during the time of the pharaohs, well before either christianity or islam arrived in egypt. it is firmly in the national psyche, and those who are trying and it will be very hard to remove. >> this offer, a onetime political prisoner, and winner of many awards for fighting for human rights -- >> one came from london a very

short time ago, a woman of the year. >> she was one of the first to draw attention to the horror of fgm in the 1970's when she was director of egypt's department of health and she was sacked for her pains. she is credited with starting the campaign which led fgm to be banned in 2008. >> the government was under mubarak to issue a very weak law prohibiting female circumcision. but they never, never did an educational program in the media to stop female genital mutilation. >> that is why you have more than 90% -- >> exactly. and the law is just ink on paper. but the government and the ministry of health, they encourage female genital mutilation. >> the doctor runs an ngo

attempting to eradicate fgm in the suburbs of cairo. >> some of the immediate complications include bleeding, infections from using unsterilized tools in carrying out circumcisions, severe pain which may be to body shop. all of these can cause the girl to die. we witnessed complications later on. female circumcision means these women never reach during sexual intercourse. this results in the welland withdrawing from sex with her husband, which causes problems in a marriage. >> paradoxically, she explains, deaths have increased since the practice was banned. >> in some cases, parents do not seek medical care, even if their daughters suffer severe complications, in which case it becomes too late for us to save their lives. girls died because their parents are too afraid of prosecution.

>> but how much longer will parents be afraid of the law? we were told a crowd gathered outside a house where we had been filming after we left and yelled at use at the women, they should not talk to foreigners about such traditional matters. a wave of xenophobia and traditionalism has engulfed egypt since the fall of the mubarak regime. >> the fear is that the new parliament will oppose all laws against fgm because some extremists there disagree with some of the laws attacking women and children. we're all pretty sure that under the new government and parliament, we will see a decline in women's and children's rights. >> i asked a spokesman for the salafi party, the most extreme of those parties, whether there would be supporting the campaign against fgm. >> this is not a priority. there are more urgent issues

involving women. no one will force women to do anything they do not want to do. >> so you would not deter a mother who wants to get her under aged daughter mutilated? >> i have nothing further to say on this matter? >> of the will of mothers liked olla would therefore be respected, and 11-year-old raaja will be mutilated. >> and that is all for "bbc newsnight"for this week. from all of us, goodbye. ♪ ♪

♪ >> make sense of international news. bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business. offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> "bbc newsnight" was presented by kcet los angeles.