TheJournal.ie uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Click here to find out more »
Dublin: 10 °C Wednesday 22 May, 2013

CBS reporter assaulted in Egypt says she thought she was going to die

Lara Logan is speaking publicly about the February attack for the first time in a televised interview. She says her attackers “really enjoyed my pain and suffering”.

CBS correspondent Lara Logan says she suffered a sustained and brutal sexual assault in Tahrir Square
CBS correspondent Lara Logan says she suffered a sustained and brutal sexual assault in Tahrir Square
Image: CBS NEWS/LANDOV/Press Association Images

CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT Lara Logan says she thought she might die after she was sexually assaulted by a mob of hundreds of men in Tahrir Square in Cairo on 11 February 2011.

Logan says that while she was preparing a TV report on the fall of Hosni Mubarak’s government when she got separated from her team, which included a bodyguard. She was surrounded by a group of men who she says “raped me with their hands”. She was eventually saved by a group of women and Egyptian soldiers.

The New York Times reports that in the weeks that followed the attack on Logan other female journalists came forward with their accounts of assault and harassment while working overseas.

Logan is due to tell her story on the CBS show 60 Minutes this weekend. Until now, she’s only publicly commented on the assault once, through a press release four days after the attack, while she was still in hospital.

During the show she’ll describe how her “clothes were torn to pieces” and how “they really enjoyed my pain and suffering”.

Logan says she feels she has to speak out about sexual violence both on behalf of other journalists and on behalf of “millions of voiceless women who are subjected to attacks like this and worse”.

Read Brian Stelter’s full report in the New York Times>

Read next:

Comments (11 Comments)

  • Civil unrest and war tends to bring out the worst in people.

    @Barry R – how about you try being beaten up by a crowd, and then undergo a “sustained sexual assault”, and then tell us which is worse when you’re done?

    Reply
  • You are right Dario, sure maybe we should just stay indoors 24/7 just in case something happens and leave everything to the males.

    Reply
    • Dario Fo 30/04/11 #

      Sorry Joan, never said women should stay at home 24/7. Ever been in a situation where you thought it’s all over? The last thing you think of is rape. Everyone trying to grab you, cloths getting thorn, that’s what happens. Being male or female does not come into it. CNN failed in their duty to their reporter. End of.

      Reply
  • I just wonder if a male journalist was beaten up, would the reaction and publicity be the same ?

    Reply
  • I can’t believe some of the comments, she wasn’t ‘beaten up’ it was a sustained violent sexual attack, unbelievable.

    Reply
  • CBS got a story out of this if nothing else. Sending a woman into a hostile environment is a bit silly to say the least.

    Reply
  • Barry R. 29/04/11 #

    Fiachra,
    I’m not doubting how disgusting and terrifying it must have been for the lady involved. I simply ask the question and you attack me rather that my argument.

    I would be amazed if male journalists aren’t being beaten up all the time, and you cannot ask a mob to differentiate when they are attacking someone.

    Feeling like you will be killed by an angry mob is one of the scariest things I can ever imagine happening to me

    Reply
    • Thomas 29/04/11 #

      Pretty White girl syndrome.

      Reply
    • I dont know Barry, i think you’re way off the mark on this considering there has been a lot of reporting on male journalists who have been killed and injured in the line of duty recently. Also, Anderson Cooper from CNN also got some coverage out of his (minor in comparison and not sexual) brief assault by a mob in Egypt around the same time.You generally don’t hear about mobs of men raping other men in middle eastern countries (or anywhere for that matter) either.

      The fact is, this is a horrible thing to happen to anyone and this particular case was pretty shocking and merits reporting, regardless of the gender assaulted.

      Reply

Add New Comment