Egypt's women push for legislative revolution

CAIRO - Since the recent revolution, many people have been calling for women to be sidelined from social activities. However, nobody can deny what women have achieved in various fields.The Salafists and certain other men would like Egypt's family laws, issued by former president Hosni Mubarak, supporting by his wife, Suzanne, to be cancelled.Regrettably, in the wake of the revolution, the quota of seats for women in the People's Assembly (the Lower House of Egyptian Parliament) has been cancelled.Other discrimination against women includes their not being allowed to participate in amending the Constitution and other governmental activities.“During the revolution. Egypt's women stood shoulder to shoulder with its men and the whole world praised their working together for liberty and social justice,” says journalist Karima Kamal.“There's only one woman in the current Cabinet and that's not enough. Besides, there weren't any woman in the higher committee formed prior to the constitutional referendum, held last March.”She appeals to the media to correct the image of women, as portrayed in soap operas, that make them look like failures when it comes to raising a family.Karima also stresses that people should be chosen for jobs according to their qualifications, not on the basis of favouritism, while the world accords relating to women's rights, signed by Egypt in 1979, should be activated, to help put an end to their marginalisation.Professor Awatef Abdel-Rahman of the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, says that, in Egyptian culture, women rely on men to do the thinking.She says that women's responsibilities have been increasing, while their social position hasn't improved since the revolution, even though they participated in the revolt alongside men.“There is a lot of hostility towards women. Certain laws in their favour, such as the Civil Status Law, have been delayed,” adds Awatef, who says that the media are also to blame for the way people regard women.“Many women in the countryside and Bedouin women are neglected, as are female breadwinners. We need a legislative revolution to help them; there must be wide-ranging political, social, cultural and economic changes.”