Party: Egyptian women targeted in protests

CAIRO, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Egyptian women are being targeted for sexual assault during protests while the Muslim Brotherhood blames the victims, a political group said Thursday.

The Socialist Popular Alliance Party described the sexual assaults as "systematic," al-Masry al-Youm reported. The group said assaults "have taken a more violent and dangerous twist since last summer."

While the party did not say which groups it holds responsible for sexual assaults, it said soldiers harass women "by dragging them along the ground, stripping them of their clothes and violating their bodies through detestable virginity tests."

The Muslim Brotherhood, now Egypt's largest political party, has done little to stop this kind of behavior, the group said.