Human Rights Watch (HRW) have reported authorities in Egypt creating fake profiles on dating apps to identify and arrest LGBTQ+ people.
HRW interviewed 15 LGBTQ+ Egyptians, with one man, Yasser, saying he was arrested after meeting up with a man he met on gay dating app Grindr.
Yasser told the HRW he was beaten by police until he signed papers saying he was “practicing debauchery” and that he experienced “unnatural sexual desires”.
All interviewees said they had been verbally harassed and physically assaulted by police, with half saying they had experienced sexual violence.One woman, who was detained after a protest in Cairo in 2018, said she was forced to undergo a ‘virginity test’ which left her with lasting physical damage.