ACLJ Urges U.N. To Rescue Abducted Christian Woman Forced To Convert to Islam

On January 22, 2024, a 21-year-old Christian woman, Irene Ibrahim Shehata, was abducted and later forced to convert to Islam in Egypt. We’re demanding an investigation from the U.N. and that Egypt find and free her.

Who Is Irene Ibrahim Shehata?

Irene, a second-year medical student, suddenly disappeared during midterm exams. Weeks later, she stole her captor’s phone and tearfully pleaded for her life in a desperate call to her brother. According to Coptic Solidarity, her captor ripped the phone from her hands and told her brother, “Okay, you heard her voice and know she’s okay, right? Now go to hell!”

Irene’s family immediately contacted the police. But the police refused to act and threatened to arrest her family if they attempted to rescue her.

A month later, Irene’s electronic record showed that her national ID had been changed to “Muslim.” This is a common tactic used by the Muslim Brotherhood to force families to give up their search for a missing Christian woman. But Irene’s family did not give up, confident that she was taken against her will.

Irene’s father reported that “‘State Security officials know exactly where my daughter is’ but because—according to them—she ran off with a Muslim man on her ‘own accord,’ they refuse to act.” Instead, authorities provided Irene’s family with numerous false leads, sending them on a futile search all over the country. Despite the family’s persistence, State Security officials remain hostile and uncooperative toward the family.

Persecution of Christians in Egypt

Tragically, this is not an isolated incident. Christian women in Egypt are often kidnapped, “married” to Muslim men, and then forced to convert to Islam. Their national IDs are then changed to Muslim, and their stories are forgotten. State Security not only refuses to rescue these women but also seemingly assists in the targeting of Christian women.

Egypt is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which enshrines protections for religious freedoms. This includes the freedom to choose one’s religion and protection from coercion. Yet many Christians in Egypt are persecuted for their faith and forced to identify as Muslim. Egypt directly violates the ICCPR by allowing the heinous trafficking of women to continue. We must not forget the plight of the women suffering from this atrocious crime.

ECLJ Advocates for Irene at the U.N.

Through the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), our international affiliate with consultative status at the U.N., we are taking direct action to advocate for Irene. Each year, we submit Universal Periodic Reviews (UPR) to the United Nations Human Rights Council (U.N. HRC), promoting and protecting human rights around the world. We review human rights violations in countries where Christians are persecuted for their faith and submit our recommendations to the U.N. HRC.

We advocated for Irene in our 2024 UPR submission on Egypt:

Authorities eventually arrested and charged a man potentially involved with her [Irene’s] kidnapping, but the woman herself has not been returned. . . . Christian women are especially targeted and harassed. In rural regions of Egypt, Christian women have been kidnapped, held for ransom, forced to convert, and marry Muslim men. While some women are abducted straight off of the street, the more common tactic involves grooming and deceit. . . . In some cases, these women are filmed being sexually abused, which is used as blackmail to keep them from leaving. In these cases, police are often dismissive of the women’s stories because they claim they willingly eloped with the man.

Further, we urged Egypt:

Egypt must take immediate steps to protect the rights of Christians to practice and share their faith freely. Individuals must be able to freely choose their religion without being harassed and targeted by the government, society, or family members. We also ask that Egypt allow Christians to build and renovate churches and protect them from being attacked by Muslim extremists. It is imperative that Egypt uphold its obligations under the ICCPR and ensure that Christians can freely practice the tenets of their faith.

Join us in demanding that Egypt take immediate steps to find Irene Shehata and stop the forced conversions of Christian women. Sign our petition.