Egyptian police search for couple accused of promoting 'wife-swapping'

Egyptian police are searching for a married couple in the city of Alexandria who set up a Facebook page promoting wife-swapping and extramarital sex, which is prohibited by Egyptian law.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab

22 September, 2019

Extramarital sex is prohibited by law in Egypt [Getty]

Police in the Egyptian city of Alexandria are looking for a married couple who set up a Facebook page promoting wife-swapping and extramarital sex, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Watan reported last week.

Egyptian security forces were monitoring the activity of the Facebook page using GPS to try to find out from where it was being updated, in preparation for a raid to arrest the couple, Al-Watan said.

Police have arrested people for wife-swapping in Egypt before. The phenomenon has been reported in affluent areas of major cities and has been blamed by some websites on the influence of Western expatriates resident in Egypt.

A previous study by the Misriyeen Centre for Studies estimated that 10,000 people in Egypt had participated in sex parties and wife-swapping.

Security forces recorded 23 cases of this type of activity between 2016 and 2017. Extramarital sex is prohibited by law in Egypt. Men can receive up to six months in prison for adultery while women face a harsher penalty of up to two years imprisonment.

Egyptian law also prohibits the promotion and incitement of “debauchery and prostitution” with a penalty of up to three years in prison.

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