Zahra Yassin, a woman from Damietta, never imagined that the private details of her life that she had entrusted to the “marital home” would one day turn into a digital battlefield, or that her life partner would brandish their intimate memories as a weapon against her. Zahra’s story is not merely an ordinary divorce case; it is a stark example of how husbands turn smartphones and private photos into tools of pressure and blackmail, forcing their wives to relinquish their rights, or using them simply as a means of revenge. The story begins in Damietta and ends in court corridors and anonymous messages, where Zahra found herself fighting on two fronts: her husband’s betrayal and his threat to expose her privacy using images that were once an expression of trust.
Zahra’s ordeal began just two years into her marriage. While she was moving between Damietta and Cairo, where her husband worked, he was weaving the threads of another life. Zahra discovered that he had married a colleague from work, and when she decided to confront him and demand a divorce, her husband did not respond amicably. Instead, he bargained her freedom against her reputation.
Speaking to Zawia3, Zahra recounts how the situation was turned on its head. Rather than holding the husband accountable for marrying another woman, her father threatened to file an “adultery” lawsuit against his own daughter, exploiting private photos of her in home clothes that were stored on his phone. Under the pressure of threats of scandal and the publication of the images, Zahra was forced in 2008 to waive all her financial and legal rights in exchange for a divorce document, leaving the experience “without rights,” believing that the nightmare of blackmail had come to an end.
But digital archives do not forget, and abusers are never satisfied. Ten years later, in 2018, blackmail resurfaced, this time from an unexpected source. Zahra was shocked to receive threatening messages from her ex-husband’s wife, demanding that she stay away from a man Zahra had not seen for years.
In 2019, the situation escalated into a systematic campaign of messages that Zahra describes as “obscene,” sent from anonymous accounts. She later discovered that her ex-husband’s wife was using the same old “private photos” that had been in the husband’s possession, threatening to publish them on pornographic websites to expose her within her social circle. Through fake accounts, and sometimes even via the former husband’s own phone, the harassment continued, turning the smartphone into a whip that lashed the victim twice: once at the hands of the unfaithful husband, and again at the hands of his partner.
Summing up her ordeal, which stands as a crude example of the phenomenon of marital blackmail, Zahra says: “Some husbands enter relationships without commitment. They want a temporary benefit, and when it ends, they leave without any material losses, using every possible means to ensure that.”
Hundreds of Egyptian women are suffering from the growing phenomenon of electronic blackmail by their husbands, through the exploitation of photos and video clips that were taken or exchanged during marriage, and then turned into tools of revenge and defamation after separation. Perpetrators benefit from weak legal and digital protection, as well as from social stigma that makes victims fear turning to the law more than the perpetrator himself.
In the absence of clear legislation criminalizing blackmail within the marital institution, accounts continue to emerge revealing the extent of the silent pain endured by many women: accumulated psychological harm, reputational damage, loss of employment, and the collapse of families, which in some cases ends in suicide attempts. All these stories unfold within a legal vacuum that remains incapable of addressing this form of abuse when it occurs within marriage.
Although the Egyptian Penal Code includes provisions criminalizing sexual blackmail, such as Article 306 bis, the scope of their application is often linked to relationships outside marriage or to public incidents, and does not clearly extend to what takes place between spouses. The law does not criminalize a husband’s possession of photos or their acquisition by virtue of the marital relationship, but punishes only the act of threat or blackmail if the wife can prove that it occurred. Even this legal path remains fragile, as a husband’s threats against his wife are not usually recognized as an independent crime unless the act goes beyond the “marital framework” in a manner deemed contrary to public morals, or if he actually publishes the images.
Despite the fact that personal status laws stipulate the protection of the family, their focus is limited to regulating matters of divorce, alimony, and custody, without including any provisions that prevent or criminalize forms of emotional or sexual blackmail that a husband may exercise against his wife. As a result, many women find themselves forced into silence or concession, fearing family disintegration or bowing to social pressure. This reality deepens the need for legislative reform that explicitly recognizes “marital blackmail” as a crime deserving of specific legal protection.
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Digital Blackmail: A Growing and Brutal Wave
Mohamed El-Yamani, head of Qawem Foundation, which supports victims of sexual blackmail in Egypt, tells Zawia3 that the organization receives hundreds of messages every day, around 85% of which involve digital violence in its various forms, ranging from blackmail and threats to the publication of pornographic images and videos for the purpose of defamation, often circulated through pornographic websites. He explains that the foundation’s team works to track down and remove links whenever possible, in addition to providing support to victims and guiding them on legal reporting mechanisms, while favoring amicable solutions in cases where this is possible, on the essential condition that the victim consents and that it is not established that the perpetrator is committing systematic crimes.
El-Yamani notes that since 2023, Qawem has adopted a more stringent approach by filing lawsuits and obtaining deterrent court rulings. He adds that peak reporting periods extend from the month of Ramadan until after Eid, contrary to common belief. He also reveals a recent report received by the foundation involving a man who offered videos to blackmail children to another individual, describing the incident as “extremely dangerous.”
According to El-Yamani, the widespread use of artificial intelligence technologies has led to a rise in digital crimes and more sophisticated methods, while increased public awareness has also resulted in higher reporting rates. Since early 2025, a new pattern of digital violence has emerged in the form of “spousal blackmail,” which escalated markedly during 2024 and 2025. El-Yamani explains that this particular type requires a sensitive approach: “We give the wife space to act, and in most cases she comes to us after legal procedures have begun, because direct intervention with the husband may complicate the situation or lead to misunderstandings. Therefore, we limit our role to guidance and legal support.”
He adds that spousal blackmail crimes have taken on a more blatant character over the past two years, with some husbands resorting to the use of photos and videos to evade family obligations such as alimony or housing rights after separation, by creating fake accounts and publishing private materials. El-Yamani explains that the foundation handles these cases through two parallel tracks: first removing the links, then supporting legal action. He also points to a recent case involving a wife blackmailing her customary-law husband, a story he describes as “resembling a television drama.”
El-Yamani stresses that around 95% of victims of spousal blackmail are women, with the most targeted age group starting at 25. During the current year, the foundation secured four court rulings against blackmailers, including a judgment against a young man who blackmailed a woman for two and a half years, and another in a case involving an Arab woman. He adds that Qawem has expanded its efforts over the past three years to include psychological support, legal assistance, and data removal, and that reports are no longer limited to Egypt. The foundation recently received a plea for help from a girl subjected to sexual blackmail by her uncle residing in Palestine.
El-Yamani emphasizes that the motives behind blackmailing adolescents range between financial extortion and sexual exploitation, while blackmailers targeting older individuals are often driven by financial motives. He cites the case of a 65-year-old Arab woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, whose blackmailer was later found to be living in another country and was using fake images generated by artificial intelligence to force her into communication. He also reveals that dating applications top the list of blackmail platforms, followed by Snapchat in cases involving minors aged 13 to 15. Girls aged 15 to 20 are most often targeted via WhatsApp and Instagram, while older age groups are targeted through WhatsApp and Facebook.
El-Yamani notes that around 70% of blackmailers in 2025 were known to their victims, while only 30% operated through virtual relationships or contact without prior acquaintance. In 2023, the figure for known perpetrators reached 90%, with husbands ranking first, followed by fiancés.
Cairo and Giza governorates top the list of reports received by Qawem, followed by Beheira, Sharqia, Alexandria, and then Upper Egypt governorates. El-Yamani observes that the largest proportion of cases come from working-class neighborhoods in Cairo and Giza, followed by villages and hamlets. He points out that the widespread belief among many families that social “isolation” protects their children in fact turns into pressure that generates negative energies, which can be exploited in committing the digital crimes described.
For its part, the Etkalemy Initiative, which supports victims of violence and blackmail, published a study in March 2024 titled “The Reality of Cyberbullying and Digital Blackmail in Egypt.” The study included 3,176 individuals who had been subjected to blackmail or digital harassment, with 90% of victims being female. Forty-seven percent of respondents reported that blackmailers demanded “sexual services” or what is known as “sexual bargaining,” while approximately 19% were subjected to financial demands. Only 10% of cases filed official reports with legal authorities. Of the reports submitted, just 11% resulted in the arrest of the blackmailer, while 41% of reports “saw no action taken” (either closed or not pursued).
In the same context, a 2025 report by INTERPOL on cyber threats in Africa revealed a sharp rise in cybercrime, particularly digital sexual extortion, which has become one of the most frequently reported crimes in several countries, including Egypt. According to the report, an Egyptian digital support platform received more than 250,000 requests for assistance related to digital sexual blackmail during 2024, reflecting the scale of the phenomenon. Data from Trend Micro also showed a significant increase in ransomware detections in Egypt, with 12,281 detections recorded during the same year, placing the country among the most affected in Africa. INTERPOL confirms that blackmailers increasingly use sexual images, whether real or AI-generated, to lure and extort victims, within a regional context in which around 60% of African countries are witnessing an increase in such cases.
Legal Loopholes and Crimes Without Deterrence
Heba Adel, head of the Egyptian Women Lawyers Foundation, tells Zawia3 that “there is no law that specifically criminalizes violations of privacy within the context of personal relationships. Such crimes fall under the Penal Code and the Law on Combating Cybercrime, but the core problem lies in the concept of legal permissibility. If the perpetrator commits the act with ‘good intent’ or under a claimed legal or moral justification, they may be exempted from punishment.” She explains that social norms and family pressure often push one party within the family structure to waive their legal complaint, noting that there are legal provisions allowing reconciliation or waiver between ascendants and descendants within the same family, such as between a husband and wife, a father and daughter, a mother and son, or a father and son. Such waivers may occur at any stage of litigation in the name of preserving family life, which causes some legal texts to clash with the principle of deterrent punishment, effectively dropping penalties under the pretext of safeguarding family cohesion.
Despite recent amendments to Egypt’s Penal Code in 2024–2025 aimed at tightening penalties for “electronic blackmail” within broader revisions to laws addressing harassment and sexual violence, Adel argues that blackmail increasingly takes place through digital harassment and surveillance. “Previously, it was relatively easy to track a blackmailer through their account,” she explains, “but the crime has evolved rapidly with the use of new tools such as artificial intelligence. An account may be used solely for blackmail and collecting money, or the blackmailer may be a relative or neighbor who exploits personal information and uses it strategically.”
She stresses that “there is still no sufficient legal aggravation of penalties. Even if the perpetrator has authority over the victim, or is able to obtain blackmail material more easily because of the relationship, the punishment is not increased as it should be.” Adel calls for a diversification of penalties and the introduction of new forms of punishment that are proportionate to the crimes committed, arguing that traditional penalties are no longer sufficient or deterrent and will not achieve the desired impact. Instead, she says, alternative sanctions must be explored that are suited to the nature of these crimes and are practical to enforce, with the aim of producing behavioral change that ultimately influences broader social conduct.
Maha: Violated Honor and Absent Justice
The story of Maha Mahmoud (a pseudonym), a 50-year-old woman from Giza, stands as a stark example of how some husbands exploit legal loopholes to practice blackmail within marriage. Her fears began when she discovered that her ex-husband had attempted to secretly record their intimate relationship using a hidden camera embedded in a pen, after she had previously learned that he had covertly filmed his workplace manager to blackmail him. Maha says she hid the pen before he could use it against her in the same way, especially after she filed a lawsuit demanding post-divorce compensation (mut‘at al-nafaqa).
But the blackmail attempts did not stop there. In 2019, Maha was shocked when her ex-husband’s lawyer, during an appeal hearing in a case seeking an increase in alimony, accused her of being the cause of the divorce and claimed to possess “sexual videos and conversations published on pornographic websites.” The accusations escalated to alleging that she was “running a prostitution network.” Despite the court’s request for evidence, nothing was submitted, and the claimants failed to attend the hearings. Maha says: “After that, I was threatened with physical assault while collecting my belongings, then I was expelled from the house, following an attempt to secretly film our intimate relationship.”
In her account to us, Maha reveals that her ex-husband and his lawyer then launched a widespread defamation campaign in the neighborhood, including the circulation of degrading comments about her body and comparisons between her and his current wife. When she sought legal counsel to file a lawsuit to restore her honor, she was shocked to discover that the lawyer had shared the details of her case with her adversaries. Despite a series of threats and blackmail attempts stretching from 2016 until today, her family, fearing for their reputation and that of her children, advised her against taking any further legal action.
For her part, Heba explains that the Egyptian Women Lawyers Foundation received around 800 complaints during 2023, in addition to phone consultations, inquiries, and reports submitted through its online platforms. She notes that the number is likely to exceed 800 complaints in 2025, as reports of blackmail increased following the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among young girls. Previously, annual complaints ranged between 500 and 600 cases, of which only 20 to 50 proceeded through formal legal action. After 2022, however, the proportion of police reporting rose to between 25% and 30% due to the increase in criminal activity, while complaints related specifically to wives being blackmailed by their husbands remain limited to just 10% to 15%.
According to the Egyptian lawyer, reports range from blackmail and threats to publish private photos. Blackmail is not confined to intimate partners; cases have emerged in which neighbors blackmail and defame one another after obtaining personal information. In one governorate, an individual became involved in systematically blackmailing girls from his area, creating a fake account through which he posted their photos, manipulated them into Facebook and Instagram stories, overlaid them with songs containing explicit insults, and set a price of 4,000 Egyptian pounds ($84.87) for deletion, later raising it to 7,000 Egyptian pounds ($148.49).
These crimes have increasingly targeted younger girls, starting from preparatory and secondary school ages, exploiting their lack of experience or prior relationships, as well as their fear of family repercussions, which often leads them to comply with blackmail demands.
The stories of Zahra and Maha are not exceptions, but rather different faces of a phenomenon that is quietly expanding in a society that places the burden of scandal on women more than it condemns perpetrators. In the absence of legislation that protects privacy within marital relationships, the exploitation of private photos and videos remains one of the most dangerous and complex forms of digital violence, infiltrating homes and feeding on the trust built between spouses, only to be violated before or after separation.
Technology thus transforms from a means of communication into a tool of control and revenge, while women retreat from reporting, caught between fear of scandal and legal impotence. Perpetrators, meanwhile, benefit from victims’ silence and legal loopholes. Years later, women like Zahra, Zeina, and Maha still carry the scars of what they endured.
