Imagine being targeted simply because you're wearing a cross pendant around your neck.
It sounds outlandish to people living in a country that guarantees religious freedom, but the reality is that right is not universal. And reports coming from Egypt show the number of cases involving violations of religious freedom is on the rise.
That's true for one group in particular: Egypt's Coptic Christians and, more specifically, women affiliated with the group.
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Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who co-chairs the Helsinki Commission, convened a hearing to investigate the plight of Coptic Christian women.
The hearing focused a new report commissioned by Christian Solidarity International. It documents several cases of women being kidnapped, abused, and forced to marry and convert to Islam.
The report, called "Tell My Mother I Miss Her," identified eight key findings:
- The numbers of disappearances and abductions are increasing
- Fewer girls are returning to their families
- Social media is increasingly used to communicate a victim's status
- Minor and mothers of young children are increasingly targeted
- Abductions continue to be organized and planned
- Captors target women and girls when they are unprotected and vulnerable
- Captors sever ties between victims and their families
- Captors make use of measures involving force, fraud and coercion
Read the full report
Copts have suffered in the wake of last year's Arab Spring that led to the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The report discusses the failure of the Coptic Church by the state as it transitions into a democratic state:
"The military was their last hope in protecting them from lawless forces in society that were religiously motivated to eradicate them ... Now they know they have no protection."
Smith told CBN News he plans to offer an amendment to next year's foreign operations appropriations bill that would block aid to Egypt unless it addresses this issue.