The 2010 Egyptian People’s Assembly elections are going to be different. Why? Because they’re set to include 56 new seats, all of which are to be allocated to female candidates.
This bold step forward for Egyptian woman has been spearheaded by Gamal Mubarak, son of President Hosni Mubarak and a key figure in the ruling National Democratic Party. In June 2009, The NDP’s policies committee agreed on new elections law amendments that will make at least 11% of new parliamentary members women. The president’s son has described the proposal as a “positive discrimination” for women’s rights in Egypt. One assumes that his mother, alongside countless other Egyptian women, must be jumping for joy.
A first Lady’s Fight for Female Rights…
Egypt’s first lady, Susanne Mubarak has been instrumental in promoting women’s rights in her country. In 2000, she helped establish an Egyptian National Council for Women to advance women’s status and echo the ancient civilizations of the Pharoanic eras when women like Nefertiti and Hatshepsut were powerful and shared in their nation’s decision making.
Mrs Mubarak actively campaigns to increase reading in Egypt and against veiling and polygamy, which has made her a revered and controversial figure in the Arab world. She is also a patron of Alam Simsim, an Egyptian version of Sesame Street, which aims to change attitudes towards gender stereotypes by depicting girls learning to fly or boys baking cakes.
Talking ’bout a Revolution
There’s no disputing that women’s rights in Egypt have come on in leaps and bounds since the 1952 revolution, when social changes, especially in education, first enabled them to move in public places among men to whom they were not related. From thereon in, the seeds of change were firmly planted, although practices such as veiling and gender segregation in schools, workplaces and recreational areas limited contact with these men. Women’s reputations and honor could protect or destroy the status of the entire family. Lower class families outside of major cities tended to withdraw girls from school as they reached puberty to minimize their interaction with men. Today, in rural areas, some girls still drop out of school as young as 8 or 9.
The early 1970’s saw further changes to Egyptian womens’ status, as an increasing number of women joined the non-agricultural workforce. Although some women worked in the professions, most held low paying jobs; half of all employed women were street cleaners, janitors, hotel and domestic servants, and hospital aides.
Back and Forth
In 1979, following decades of debate, the Egyptian government amended the laws relating to women’s personal status. The amendments, which became known as the “women’s rights law,” stated, among other progressive reforms, that polygamy was legally harmful to a first wife and entitled her to sue for divorce within a year after learning of her husband’s second marriage. They also entitled the first wife to compensation and automatic custody of sons under the age of ten and daughters under twelve.
In 1985 Egyptian authorities ruled that the amendments of 1979 were “unconstitutional”. A new law reversed many of the rights granted: A woman lost her automatic right to divorce her husband if he married a second wife. She could still petition a court, but a judge would grant a divorce only if it were in the interests of the family. If a divorce were granted, the judge would also determine what it deemed an appropriate residence for the divorced woman and her children.
Looking to the Future
The pendulum swung the other way once more in 2000, when groundbreaking legal amendments to Egyptian divorce laws made it possible, for women to end their marriages without having to prove to a male judge that they had been mistreated. So far, this legislation has held its ground. A few strings remain attached: all women who divorce their husbands must agree to waive their financial rights and return the bride price paid at the time of marriage.
“We’re fighting for seats in parliament, female literacy and a change in family laws that discriminate against us. There’s a long road ahead.” says Hoda Badran, a member of the Women’s Council.
A long road that in 2009, Egyptian women must feel they are at last beginning to walk freely.
“Polygamy and female circumcision can only be abolished through education, Not by force.” – Suzanne Mubarak
