Malak al-Kashef is a 19-year-old transgender woman being held in an all-male prison in Egypt. She’s been detained solely for supporting a peaceful protest.
As a woman in an all-male prison, Malak is vulnerable to sexual harassment, assault and rape by the detaining authorities and other inmates.
The authorities arrested Malak in March and are holding her on the baseless charges of “aiding a terrorist organization” and “misusing social media to commit a crime punishable by law.”
According to her lawyer, she is one of 35 people arrested after being involved in protests about a fatal train wreck that killed 25 people.
Days after her arrest, Malak was subjected to a forced anal examination at a government hospital.
When torture and harassment like this happens, Amnesty supporters act. After hundreds of thousands of people spoke up, in 2015 Egypt released Australian journalist Peter Greste. Earlier this year photojournalist Shawkan also walked free from an Egyptian prison cell.
Call on Egypt’s Public Prosecutor to immediately free Malak and drop all the charges brought against her.