One evening, Amina (not her real name) heard the sound of a WhatsApp message coming through on her phone. She smiled, thinking it was from a woman wanting her to do one of her henna designs. But as soon as she read it, her face became etched with fear and her hands began to shake. The message was a death threat, and it was followed by other messages containing fake images.
Thirty-six-year-old Amina is a Sudanese asylum seeker and mother of three, the eldest of whom is 15. Since her arrival in Egypt in 2024, she was bombarded with threatening messages from the brother of her ex-husband, her children’s uncle, which over time led to actual physical assault. At first, she was surprised that the brother had been able to reach her. But then she realized he had hacked her Facebook account, and managed to find out her location. Even though Amina sought help from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partner organizations, she realized there was no one to protect her from the constant threats and violence.
This investigation shows how the UNHCR fails to provide support to women suffering digital violence, since it does not classify this as a reportable form of gender-based violence, and, therefore, gives no protection to victims. The UNHCR’s latest funding shortfall has exacerbated matters, leaving women refugees and asylum-seekers who need such support at the mercy of those abusing and blackmailing them.
In addition to Amina, this reporter met three other women who had been subjected to online violence. None of them had received support or any form of legal, psychological, or material assistance from UNHCR or its partner organizations.
In a survey of 140 female refugees and asylum seekers who had experienced digital violence, 91 reported their experiences to the UNHCR or its partner organizations. However, only one in five women who sought help from the UNHCR received any help. The Aoun Initiative has meanwhile documented 28 cases of digital violence and the Meddad Initiative, which supports refugees, has dealt with three cases of digital violence, while six victims of online threats have approached the Qawem network, which helps victims of extortion.
Cross-border Violence
Nearly two years ago, Amina fled to Egypt with her three children. Beyond the brutality of the war in Sudan, years of domestic and marital violence endured by Amina and her children were a decisive factor in her decision to flee the country.Although she obtained a divorce in 2021, this did not end the cycle of violence against her and her children. She thought that the very fact of crossing into Egypt meant she had found the safety she dreamed of, but little did she realize that what she was fleeing from would pursue her and her children even as far as Cairo.
Amina explains that the pattern of violence by her brother-in-law began ten years ago, when he molested his eldest niece.Amina says her husband threatened to divorce her if she spoke about the incident. Despite the threat, she took her daughter for a medical check-up. The violence continued until Amina’s divorce in 2021, after which she moved in with her family. When war later broke out in Sudan, she fled with her children to Egypt.
Amina was given an “asylum seeker” card, known as a “yellow card,” and began working as a henna artist and hairdresser, using social media to reach clients. But her life was not as peaceful and safe as she had hoped, as her ex-husband and the children's uncle soon began pursuing her.
At first, she just blocked his number, but the online harassment quickly turned into physical abuse and she was forced to move nine times.
"From the day arrived in Egypt, the father of my kids threatened me, even though, six months after I’d settled in Egypt, I met him outside the HQ of the UNHCR, and we agreed to bury the hatchet,” says Amina, “I told him he could visit the kids at home, but then I was shocked to hear from my middle daughter that he was calling to see them after I’d left for work and telling them he wanted to take them away without my knowledge." Amina says this same threat came on WhatsApp messages she received from the children's uncle.
In addition to the father secretly visiting Amina’s children, their uncle broke into her flat twice. The first time, she called the neighbours for help and he ran off. But the second time he came, he attacked Amina and beat her, leaving her left shoulder bruised and swollen.
The reason Amina’s brother-in-law attacked her and constantly threatened to kill her was because he wanted to marry off her eldest daughter, something Amina categorically refuses to do. As the harassment and threats worsened, Amina contacted the UNHCR and its partner organizations to ask for protection. She also visited the headquarters of CARE International, but received no proper response.
Forms of digital violence suffered by female refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt
UNHCR Turns a Blind Eye
Under the memorandum of understanding signed with Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNHCR is responsible for providing a range of services. These include refugee registration and status determination; protection services; subsistence assistance; health and education support; child protection; financial assistance for those most in need; resettlement and voluntary return to countries of origin; and support to host communities to strengthen their capacity to absorb refugees.
The UNHCR partners with 14 other organizations to provide protection, health services, physical, psychological and legal support, and protection from various forms of gender-based violence. However, digital violence is not included among the forms of gender-based violence listed on UNHCR’s website.
Types of gender-based violence for which UNHCR provides support and protection
For Siham Ali, a Sudanese lawyer living in Egypt, the reason the UNHCR does not include digital violence among those cases for which it offers protection, is because it focuses on those most at risk. These so-called “vulnerable cases” are those where the lives of refugees are at risk and include: domestic violence against women; sexual violence against women and gays; and single-parent families. If a refugee is in danger, their case is examined to see if they are eligible for transfer to a third country, which will grant them permanent protection and the necessary rights, in a process known as “resettlement.”
Siham Ali says that digital violence occurs whenever someone makes a threat by phone, or WhatsApp, or any other form of social media. However, the UNHCR will not consider cases of digital violence unless they develop into physical assault, nor will it provide support or protection to the victim. Only when digital violence becomes actual assault, and the refugee's life is in danger, the UNHCR may become involved, says Ali.
Shaimaa Sami, Director of the Meddad Initiative for Refugee Support, finds it incomprehensible that the UNHCR excludes digital violence from the category of abuses for which it provides support or assistance, especially since the UN recognizes digital violence in other circumstances. She believes that even if digital violence were included in this category, it would only rank second or third in the order of priorities, even though it can sometimes develop into actual violence.
Meddad’s founder Shaimaa Samil explains that the UNHCR performed well in the first three months of the war in Sudan, registering refugees and giving them the necessary support. But she says its performance subsequently deteriorated, with some female refugees finding it unresponsive.
In our survey, of the 140 female refugees and asylum seekers who experienced digital violence 91 sought help from the UNHCR or its partner organizations. But close to 80 percent of them were unable to find assistance or access psychological, legal or financial support. Only one in five received UNHCR protection.
No Viable Solutions
In Amina’s case, digital violence turned into physical violence when she was beaten – as was confirmed by a medical examination report at a public hospital. But this still did not prompt any organization to act.
After the beating, Amina attempted to seek help from CARE International but was unable to access its offices. She then turned to St. Andrew’s Refugee Services, where officials said they could not provide protection and referred her back to CARE. Amina later contacted Save the Children via WhatsApp, only to be told that her case also fell under CARE’s mandate. Eventually, she went back to CARE’s headquarters and waited outside till she was let in.
Amina explained her situation to the CARE employee. She told her the organization had no responsibility to protect her and she should go to the police station to file a complaint against the man who had attacked her and move somewhere else.
Amina found these suggestions from CARE “useless,” as they could expose her to even more risk. According to human rights activists, if she were to make a report to the police without having a valid residence permit, she could be putting herself at higher risk.
Egyptian law does provide protection from digital violence.. Article 18 of the Information Technology Crimes Law 175 of 2018 states that “Any person who damages, disables, conceals or hacks into an email, website or account belonging to an individual shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of not less than one month and a fine of not less than fifty thousand pounds and not exceeding one hundred thousand pounds, or by either one of these two sanctions.”
Article 25 of the same law states that any person who violates the principles and values of the Egyptian family, infringes on the sanctity of private life, repeatedly sends electronic messages to an individual without consent, misuses personal data for commercial purposes, or publishes, via the internet or other information technology, content that violates a person’s privacy without consent, whether true or false, is subject to a prison sentence of no less than six months and a fine ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 Egyptian pounds, or one of these two penalties.
Amina has to wait three more years before she can file a report against her ex-husband and his brother. This is because the Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights - a legal partner of the UNHCR - refused to help her file a report with the cybercrime unit, based on her saved WhatsApp messages, because she did not have a valid residence permit. And such a permit would not be issued to her until September 2028.
Amina is not alone in finding herself unable to take legal action because of a missing residence permit. According to Shaimaa Sami, the Meddad Initiative for Refugee Support she set up is working with three Sudanese women victims of digital violence, one of whom could not take legal action because she did not have a valid residence permit. And two of the women who responded to our survey said that various institutions had refused to help them for the same reason.
Shaimaa Ali says it is a bleak outlook for female refugees and asylum seekers, facing long waiting times to obtain residency permits, especially as Meddad and other civil society organizations have no other way of giving them legal aid during this time.
Lack of Funding
Lawyer Dalia Saeed, the founder of the Aoun Initiative, thinks the high numbers of those in need of support from the UNHCR reflects its failure to respond to cases of digital violence. Lawyer Siham Ali agrees, saying the UNHCR is under extreme pressure and has neither the financial resources nor the staff to support all cases. It, therefore, offers protection in critical ones, which often do not include digital violence.
Siham points out that, before the funding crisis, the UNHCR used to provide protection services to refugees by renting them a new apartment and covering their rent for three months. Now, however, it pays for only one month's rent and does not cover any additional expenses - for moving, transporting furniture, or agent’s fees.
The UNHCR in Egypt faces a funding shortfall of around 63 percent of its budget for providing services, with only $51 million available out of the $137.7 million it needs. When it comes to combatting gender-based violence, only 20 percent of the necessary funding is in place - $2.8 million out of a total requirement of $13.9 million.
Seven out of eight institutions, which provide protection in cases of gender-based violence, most notably CARE International, have not received the necessary funding to provide these services. The UNHCR meanwhile has received $1.7 million towards the total of $1.6 million needed to fund services providing protection from gender-based violence – 109 percent of the required amount.
The Egyptian Refugee Support Foundation (UNHCR's legal partner) has also not received any of the funds needed to provide general protective services to refugees inside the country. At the same time, the UNHCR has been given $9.2 million for general protection services - more than 50 percent of the $17.6 million total required.
But Shaimaa Sami, of the Meddad Initiative, does not think that lack of funding explains why female refugees are not receiving support. She points out that when they try to contact the UNHCR, or partner organizations, they often do not even receive a response, let alone any assistance. She argues that the consequences of a funding shortage should not fall on the shoulders of female refugees. Rather, it is the UNHCR that should be responsible for finding solutions to put right its own failures.
Sudanese lawyer Siham Ali defends the UNHCR's position in dealing with cases of online abuse. But she admits that “the UNHCR is failing to deal with cases of digital violence” and that it is not in position to provide such protection, especially given the limited capabilities of its staff.
The UNHCR employs 356 local staff in Egypt, and 35 from other nationalities. These 391 staff work with a total of 1,069,155 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR in the country. This means that one employee serves approximately 2,700 refugees.
The Aoun Initiative has proposed that UNHCR expand its cooperation to include independent bodies and organizations that support victims of digital violence, rather than limiting its services to its current partner organizations.
The disregard shown by the UNHCR and its partner organizations for Amina's plight meant she was forced to give up work as a henna artist and beautician, because she was reliant on her social media accounts which were hacked. She, therefore, lost her main source of income and had to take domestic work instead.
Amina receives 3,000 Egyptian pounds ($63.09 at the exchange rate on November 30, 2025) from the World Food Programme, which is what she has to pay in rent for the flat she lives in. In the last two months, she has fallen behind in her rent, and now owes 6,000 pounds ($126.18). And the landlord has also demanded that she pay 800 pounds (US$16.82) for electricity and 700 pounds (US$14.72) for water.
Her situation then deteriorated further. Unable to pay rent or cover water and electricity bills, Amina was forced to leave her home.
Amina needs psychological support both for herself and her children, who are having trouble sleeping and are prone to tantrums. She also needs help for her eldest daughter, who suffers from convulsions, incontinence, and has difficulty speaking. Amina’s hope is to find a place to live where she can be safe and her children are out of danger.
In response to Amina’s complaint that her case was ignored, UNHCR said it takes all reports from refugee women and girls seriously, including those involving harassment or digital violence. It emphasized that, since it is not a law enforcement agency, it has no authority to investigate crimes or prosecute perpetrators, but stated that it seeks to inform victims of their legal rights and ways to access them.
The UNHCR points out that online harassment and other forms of digital violence are crimes under Egyptian law and it will help female refugees who want to file police reports and take legal action with managing their case and providing legal assistance. Government authorities are, however, the only bodies with the necessary legal jurisdiction and law enforcement systems at their disposal to investigate these crimes and pursue the perpetrators. They alone can take appropriate legal measures and retain full authority to determine how to deal with each case.
The UNHCR goes on to say that it recognizes the increased risks faced by refugees and asylum seekers and that it provides women refugees who report such incidents with confidential case management services, psychological and social support, and personalized plans for their own safety. Survivors of abuse also receive help in understanding their legal options, in tackling administrative and judicial procedures, and in ensuring they obtain the necessary documents to prove their legal status and rights. The UNHCR points out that its legal partners offer refugees both walk-in surgeries and bi-monthly meetings on legal issues and provide specialized support to survivors of online harassment, so that they are able to take legal measures and access appropriate protection services.
Regarding the conflict in Sudan, the UNHCR says: "Since the outbreak of conflict in Sudan in 2023, Egypt has seen an unprecedented influx of people fleeing their country. UNHCR has registered more than one million refugees and asylum seekers of various nationalities in Egypt. The government estimates that 1.5 million Sudanese have sought refuge in Egypt over this period. Although many of these people live in asylum-like conditions, not all have registered with the UNHCR. As a result, UNHCR is unable to provide them with full protection and support services, despite their extreme vulnerability. We are working to strengthen our outreach to communities and to raise awareness of the importance of international protection and of refugees registering with the UNHCR as the first step to accessing support.
The UNHCR has acknowledged shortcomings in its protective services, attributing them to insufficient funding that has strained both its operations and those of its partners. Protective services, including case management, cannot meet all needs, and priority is, therefore, given to women facing immediate threats to their safety. The UNHCR says it follows this approach when dealing with all groups needing protection, not only cases involving digital violence.This reflects UNHCR’s commitment to ensuring that those most at risk receive life-saving support at the right time.
The Commission recognizes that refugee women and girls may face barriers to accessing help, including difficulty contacting services during peak times or not having the necessary paperwork to take legal action. The UNHCR acknowledges the importance of tackling digital violence.It says it is committed to continue strengthening outreach and raising of awareness to ensure that women who have suffered such abuse know that these services are available and they can access them safely.
The UNHCR concluded its response to ARIJ by saying that it "continues to play a pivotal role in facilitating access to justice through its legal partners, providing comprehensive support. This includes legal guidance, help compiling reports, psychological and social support services, ensuring refugees can access basic information about its services and how to request help, and providing this information through the UNHCR’s assistance website in Egypt.
Meanwhile, Amina and her children remain victims of inadequate services, caught between the lack of funding for protection and the complexities of obtaining justice. She is consumed by one desire, for her children to live in safety: “All I need is for my children to be safe.”
This investigation was produced with the support of ARIJ.
