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Middle East | Egypt | Activism

Egyptian women resist harassment with short dresses

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A group of Egyptian women have resorted to a new and original way to fight sexual harassment during a march in the capital, Cairo - wearing short dresses. As onlookers watched on in silent amazement, the women waved signs carrying the message: "we are wearing the dresses of the past, we want the streets of the past”. The message was referring to the sixties and seventies when women’s skirts and dresses were fashionably much shorter, but they received less unwelcomed attention. Dr Riham Atef, the organizer of the march, told Al Arabiya.Net: “The concept behind this march is inspired
Middle East | Egypt | Politics

How one Coptic woman made Egyptian parliamentary history

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Becoming a member of parliament as the first Coptic woman to win an individual seat representing a district known for its tribalism and intolerance was a difficult feat. Mona Gaballah succeeded in entering the annals of Egyptian parliamentary history as the first Coptic woman to represent the al-Jamaliah and Manshiyat Nasser district In an interview with Al-Monitor, Gaballah talks about the hurdles she faced during the electoral race, which includes society’s prevailing patriarchal culture where even women refuse to vote for other women. Gaballah also opined that further developing the pu
Middle East | Egypt | Society

Egypt’s women-only taxi service promises protection from male drivers

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Egypt’s Pink Taxi – a new service marketed as a safe way for women to travel in Cairo, where sexual harassment and assaults have become increasingly commonplace – is surprisingly neither pink, nor a taxi. “This is not a taxi. It’s a limousine service,” says Reem Fawzi, the founder of the service. The name is simply marketing, she adds. Appearing on influential TV talk shows, Fawzi promises Egyptian women “privacy and safety” from male taxi drivers. “Just enter ‘taxi driver’ into Google [in Egypt] and it will suggest ‘taxi driver kills’; ‘taxi driver rapes’;
Middle East | Egypt | Activism

How feminist groups are taking on post-revolution Egypt

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In 2012, international media talked about collective rapes targeting women in the protests in Tahrir Square for the first time. In reaction, several civil groups, such as Tahrir Bodyguard, OpAntiSH and Basma, were created to protect women and establish actions to prevent rape during the protests. Three years later, they had to change their way of action, from emergency to sustainability, with more or less success. The Egyptian revolution, from 2011 to 2014, seems to have brought together and strengthened civil initiatives against sexual harassment and for gender equality. “The feminis
Middle East | Egypt | Culture

Egypt’s Women and the Heartbreak of Arranged Marriages

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Three women huddle around the couple. Two of the women are likely to be their mothers; the third in this decisive meeting is the matchmaker, the middle-woman or the khatba. She is the one who is brokering the marriage. Anyone wandering through Cairo's cafes or social clubs is likely to have witnessed this scene: an arranged marriage in the making. The matchmaker is supposed to know the bride-to-be and the groom-to-be, or at least their families. She contacts both families and speaks to each about the other. Then she organizes a meeting for the two families. Her role does not end there--a
Middle East | Egypt | Leadership

Egypt’s First Female Shipmaster Participates In New Suez Canal Celebrations

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Amid a wave of rising anticipation for Egypt’s multi-billion grand project opening, Egypt’s first and youngest female shipmaster, Marwa el-Slehdar, has proudly announced her participation in the new Suez Canal opening on Thursday, reported state-owned Al-Ahram. “Even though I have been dreaming of taking part in the [New Suez Canal] opening ceremony, I never thought the dream would come true,” says Slehdar. “I was overjoyed when I learned that I would be on deck of ‘Aida 4’ as a second naval officer, making me the youngest and first Egyptian and Arab shipmaster to take part in
Middle East | Egypt | Society

Egypt’s women struggle to chart their own paths

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Lara Hesham El Fouly built her own car – perhaps not unusual in Western countries, but in Egypt women undertaking “male” work is taboo and rare. In the streets of Cairo, abandoned cars grow rusty. Owners cannot afford to maintain, repair or even register them, sometimes leaving them for years. Lara, then 16, claimed one of these cars and used the body to build her own car. For two years she worked alongside Mohamed Al Abyad, a mechanic who specialises in repairing foreign cars. Together they took the vehicle apart and replaced parts. Lara’s daily travels to a mechanic shop where o
Middle East | Egypt | Activism

Egyptian Restaurants Can No Longer Refuse Service to Women with Veils

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In the Middle East, hijab—the headscarves and veils worn by women to connote their Muslim faith—can elicit a variety of reactions depending on the country, region, or even city by city. In some areas, they’re considered almost mandatory; however, in Egypt, they’re suffering from a dualistic identity. Although the vast majority of women currently wear headscarves in Egypt, the cosmopolitan crowd has more and more frequently taken to denying hijab-wearers from high-end restaurants, clubs, cafes, and resorts. In addition to a growing Facebook group called Respect My Veil, Egypt’s
Middle East | Egypt | Activism

Women protest detentions outside Egypt’s presidential palace

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Dozens of women held a vigil Sunday outside Egypt's presidential palace, challenging a law that restricts protests and calling for the release of thousands of prisoners detained for violating the controversial measure. Organizers said they didn't seek prior permission from authorities to stage the vigil near the palace of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Police formed a cordon around the women, who raised photos of detainees. Some protesters raised banners that read: "Ramadan is not the same without you," in reference to the Muslim holy month of fasting that brings families together.
Middle East | Egypt | Corruption

Is the Egyptian state using sexual torture against women?

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The Arab spring promised freedom and justice to the 2011 protestors in Tahrir Square, but a damning new report claims that women are being brutalised by police, military and security forces at an unprecedented level. Four years ago, Cairo was a giant billboard for human rights; the words “freedom”, “justice” and “dignity” were graffitied across the city, with the high hopes of Tahrir Square writ large on city streets. What remains today is a patchwork of paint covering up any hint of political protest. This isn’t the only whitewash in Egypt now. According to a dev
Middle East | Egypt | Culture

Female Genital Mutilation In Egypt Has Affected 92 Percent Of Married Women

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Roughly 92 percent of Egyptian women who have been married have undergone female genital mutilation, according to a recent survey from the government’s Ministry of Health. The number has decreased since the last statistic released in 2000, but it is still alarmingly high considering the practice was criminalized in Egypt in 2008. The majority of women who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) were between nine and 12 years old, Egypt’s Minister of Health Adel Adawy said. Data was pulled from a poll that surveyed women in Egypt between 15 and 49 years old. A similar poll conducted
Middle East | Egypt | Business

Boosting opportunities for Arab businesswomen

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The Arabic version of an ITC guide to help governments source more goods and services from women-owned business was launched today during a gathering on women and entrepreneurship in Cairo. Only about 1% of the trillions of dollars that the world’s governments spend each year on purchasing goods and services go to companies owned and operated by women. The ITC guide, ‘Empowering Women through Public Procurement’, spells out how governments can develop guidelines that would make it easier to source more goods and services from women entrepreneurs. The guide looks at the challenges w
Middle East | Egypt | Arts

Art Alert: ‘Women On Walls’ graffiti project, workshops to take place at GrEEK

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Women on Walls (WOW) will be showcasing graffiti at the GrEEK Campus as part of the Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (DCAF) programme from 3-7 April 2015. The WOW project was launched in early 2013 with the aim of using graffiti to both focus on women's issues and rights, and to empower female graffiti artists. Back in 2013, over 40 artists brought graffiti art to the streets of four Egyptian cities: Mansoura, Alexandria, Cairo and Luxor. WOW returns now as part of their cooperation with DCAF. According to the WOW organisers, this year the project is themed "Unchained," and they hope
South Asia | India | Politics

This is stupid: In Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party Legislator Blames Women for Rape

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A lawmaker of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh has said women were as much responsible for rapes, drawing strong condemnation from opposition parties. "A lot of rape incidents are happening these days, causing a hue and cry in the media. No government can change this unless society corrects itself. And if someone says women are less responsible, actually women are more to blame," Shiv Charan Prajapati, the legislator from Hamirpur, was heard saying at a women's meet. At this, UP Women's Commission Chairperson Zarina Usmani, who was presiding over the meeting, objected, reporte

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