The survey - sponsored by the Egyptian government - found that one woman in three had been tortured at some point by her husband, the Guardian said. "Of those women, 45 percent had been beaten at least once in the past year and 17 percent had been beaten three or more times during the same period."

The widespread torture is tolerated under the Shari'a (Islamic law), the Guardian said. The same system permits the abuse and even murder of Muslim women in countries throughout the Middle East.

Reports the Guardian:

"Violent husbands can generally avoid prosecution on religious grounds, because the Egyptian penal code excludes acts committed 'in good faith, pursuant to a right determined by virtue of the Shari'a.'

"Egyptian law also allows men - literally - to get away with murder," the paper said. "If a husband kills his wife in the act of committing adultery, it's only a misdemeanor but if a wife kills her husband for the same reason, then of course that's murder."

But even short of murder, torture of Muslim women is so widespread that it's become an ingrained part of the culture in many Muslim countries.

"Shocking as this may seem, most Egyptian women regard beating as a normal and more or less acceptable part of life," the Guardian said. "Almost 86 percent of the women surveyed thought husbands were justified in hitting their wives sometimes, and a large majority said a refusal to have sex was sufficient grounds for beating."

Egyptian women aged 20-29 told the government survey that spousal torture in the form of beating was acceptable for a range of other domestic "offenses."