Hassi Messaoud mob attacks against women

Hassi Messaoud controversy (mob attacks against women) (in French: L'affaire des femmes violées de Hassi Messaoud) refers to many especially violent attacks against women living in the city of Hassi Messaoud in Algeria in July 2001 and the continuing court cases associated with it. The controversy has received much coverage in the French-language press, including in Algeria and in France, which has a significant Algerian immigrant community.

The appeals process continued into 2005.

The city of Hassi Messaoud is a petroleum industry hub in the centre of Algeria. It has approximately 53,000 inhabitants. Various petroleum businesses operate there, and the city has become a place to seek employment and economic security for many Algerians, which is in the midst of a civil war. This has led to the development of many bidonvilles (shantytowns) around the city.

Many women have migrated to Hassi Messaoud to find employment doing maintenance tasks, secretarial work or in catering in the petroleum companies. Such women work, but also live alone, in a very traditional region. Islamic preachers have accused them of having a "second job", i.e. working as prostitutes by night in addition to their day jobs, in a region with a high unemployment rate among men. Before the mob violence, many women had been the object of insults, and some had been physically threatened.

During the day of prayer on Friday, July 13, 2001 an imam described as fundamentalist, Amar Taleb, verbally attacked the women coming from the regions of the northwest to work in the petroleum companies, inciting the men in attendance to commit violent acts against them. He accused them of "immoral" behaviour, calling for a "Jihad against the devil" in order to "hunt down fornicating women". According to him, women living alone, without a wali, (a male guardian according to the Maliki tradition), could only be prostitutes.

During the night of 13 to 14 July, around 10 PM, a mob of around 300 men moved in the direction of the bidonville El-Haïcha, where women working as housecleaners, cooks and secretaries lived. Over the course of five hours, 40 women in the area were attacked, beaten, raped, mutilated, and dragged through the street naked. Their homes were looted and some were burnt. Some of the attackers were armed with knives. The police did not arrive until 3 AM, putting an end to the violence.

This was repeated the following night, and then on July 16 it was repeated in other neighborhoods of the city. On July 17, then on July 23 and 24, the violence spread to the city of Tebessa, then further south where businesses owned by lone women were vandalized.

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Wikipedia