Egyptian authorities on Wednesday released doctor and documentary filmmaker Omnia Sweidan on 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($400) bail following a published testimony describing abuses against women during childbirth, at a major university hospital in Alexandria, sparking a wider debate about obstetric violence and raising human rights concerns.
The East Alexandria Prosecution questioned Sweidan on charges of spreading false news and misusing social media before ordering her release pending further investigation, her lawyer said.
According to rights lawyer Mohamed Ramadan, Sweidan faces charges of "spreading false news via Facebook" and "misusing a Facebook account." The complaint against her was reportedly filed by a lawyer representing Alexandria University Hospitals.
Sweidan was arrested from her home in Damanhour, Beheira governorate, on Tuesday evening, a day after posting on Facebook an account of systematic violations against patients at El Shatby University Hospital, inside the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department. In the post, she cited four incidents that she said had remained etched in her memory from her time working there.
Her account prompted expressions of solidarity from rights organizations, feminist initiatives, political parties and public figures, who said they were "deeply concerned" by her detention.
A copy of a statement with multiple signatories published by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) called for her immediate and unconditional release and dropping “all charges against her for exercising her constitutional right to freedom of expression.”
“Her testimony contributed to an important public discussion on obstetric violence, a form of gender-based violence that women face within healthcare institutions and that remains insufficiently recognized, documented and addressed,” the statement read.
The signatories said that such security detentions are an obstacle faced by women who speak publicly about experiences of violence or seek to report abuses.
Lobna Darwish, EIPR’s head of the group’s gender program, said the allegations were not unique to El Shatabi Hospital. “Unfortunately, the state treats anything that sparks public concern as a security matter,” she told the Associated Press.
The Alexandria University said Tuesday the claims were under examination by the Faculty of Medicine according to procedures, and that any proven violations will be “handled firmly, without cover-up or exception,” while the Egyptian Doctors Syndicate said it had not received any formal complaints regarding the allegations.
Sweidan, who graduated from medical school in 2020 before moving into filmmaking, reported that a physician sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman during childbirth. She said the doctor carried out a cervical examination in a way intended to inflict pain and “punish her for screaming,” while nursing staff laughed.
In another reported incident, a doctor allegedly slapped a woman during labour, while a nurse verbally abused her. Sweidan wrote that when she and a colleague expressed shock, they were mocked and dismissed as overly sensitive.
The allegations also included what she described as the deliberate refusal to treat a woman who had survived an attempted rape and arrived at hospital with severe uterine injuries and bleeding. Medical staff, she said, refused to assist her on the basis of her appearance, clothing and possession of cigarettes, concluding she did not deserve care.
She further described a case involving a woman with an incomplete miscarriage, whose treatment was reportedly delayed because she could not immediately produce a marriage certificate. Sweidan said the patient faced serious risk of complications before she personally intervened to admit her for treatment, and that staff were instructed to record the case using the derogatory label “suspected illegitimate pregnancy.”
Beyond individual cases, she pointed to what she described as broader patterns of obstetric violence, including routine episiotomies, the so-called “husband stitch,” and the use of elbow pressure on women’s abdomens to speed placental delivery rather than allowing it to occur naturally or using medication.
Sweidan also accused some medical personnel of performing unnecessary C-sections for financial gain, forcing women into vaginal births despite medical risks, and refusing admission to intensive care units for critically ill patients without written consent from a husband, father or brother, while disregarding the mother’s own consent.
