Egyptian women are assaulting non-hijabis by chopping off their hair

On one half of the world, women are being condemned and even banned from covering their hair, on the other half, women are being assaulted for not covering their hair. In both instances, the question remains the same – is another person your damn business?

In Egypt, women have been found to be cutting the hair off of women who do not wear the hijab. The assaults have been taking place in public areas, particularly crowded metro stations where women have been targeting other women whom they do not know. The majority of these women are not caught or prosecuted.

As reported by Vice Arabia, last month, one of the victims, Nancy Magdy, boarded a train in Cairo where she had to stand due to a lack of free seating. Two stops into her journey, Nancy noticed two women wearing niqab board the train. In a fleeting moment, the women grabbed Nancy’s hair and cut it before yelling at her that their actions should encourage her to cover herself.

يغلق الباب، ويتحرك القطار، وتشاهد نانسي شعرها على رصيف المحطة التي غادرتها توًا، وبعض الراكبات يحاولنّ تهدئتها، وبعضهن ينظرن لها كمجرمة نالت العقاب، مُبررات ذلك بأن لديها وشمًا على رقبتها: نون.

— عربية VICE ? (@VICEArabia) September 10, 2019

According to multiple reports, these incidents follow a pattern in which the women have an escape-route planned, use busy transport and the same assault weapon – this is carefully planned. Reports also show that Christian women are subjected to heightened violence, due to the fact that they are not veiled even because they wear a cross or have tattoos.

The incidents speak to a narrative in which many Egyptians feel as though the predominantly Muslim country (94 per cent) is being tarnished by Christian ideals (5 per cent.)