On Monday, June 15, 2026, Omnia Suwaidan, a doctor and film director from Egypt, to publish Testimony on Facebook alleging mistreatment and abuse at Shatby Hospital in Alexandria.
In the post she is foot As a former resident physician in obstetrics and gynecology at El Shatby University Hospital, she shared what she witnessed during her training.
She said these incidents reflect years of abuse, including allegations of sexual assault, humiliation and neglect.
According to her account, a woman in labor was allegedly sexually assaulted under the pretext of a medical examination, patients were physically abused during childbirth, and an alleged rape victim was denied care.
Institutional response and public reaction
Her post highlighted that the hospital caused psychological trauma to a large percentage of those who entered it, urge Investigation.
Within hours, attention moved from social media to state action. Security forces Arrested Swaidan at her home in Damanhour on Tuesday, June 16, on charges of spreading false news and misusing social media. Later, the Public Prosecution referred the case forward by filing official charges.
She was then released on bail on Wednesday, June 17 amount 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($401.44 USD). If the case reaches the conviction stage, the allegations carry the possibility of a long prison term.
Many women I turned On social media, Suwaidan’s testimony resonated, raising concerns about privacy violations, procedures carried out without consent, and ignoring women’s pain.
Several threads of investigation emerged alongside Suwaidan’s allegations, expanding the framework from a single testimony to a larger case. An independent fact-checking platform called Matsda2sh, which translates to “don’t believe it,” Released A report after interviews with former El Shatby doctors who worked at the hospital between 2017 and 2023.
Report described A workplace culture that interviewees said normalized verbal abuse, humiliation and neglect, including accounts of women being humiliated or slapped during labor and subjected to painful examinations while being denied dignity in vulnerable moments.
According to According to a report by Al Arabiya, Suwaidan worked in Al-Shatby as a “trainee doctor” for only a few months, and her relationship with the hospital ended about six years ago.
She does not recall the names of specific staff members during that brief training period, and her claims may have been based on limited medical experience and difficulty distinguishing between routine obstetrics and gynecology examination procedures and what she perceived as harassment. According to For a report by Al Arabiya channel.
In response, the authorities of Alexandria University Announce They will launch an investigation into the allegations circulating online with a focus on protecting patient dignity and treating any confirmed violations seriously and transparently.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Medical Syndicate He stressed No official complaints were submitted, and he warned against broad generalizations about Egyptian doctors, noting that the overwhelming majority work under extraordinary pressure.
This is not the first time that a doctor has been arrested after systematic complaints.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Egyptian government Fired A crackdown on healthcare workers, and the detention of at least seven doctors and two pharmacists on charges of spreading fake news for criticizing unsafe working conditions and the way the state has handled the crisis.
While Souidan’s accusations sparked official investigations, legal proceedings, and public debate, the authorities, on the other hand, stressed the importance of evidence-based data, despite former medical staff members expressing concerns about work practices at Shatby Hospital.