Arab Women Await Change - Building Gender Balanced Business

“All of us were there, throwing stones, moving dead bodies. We did everything. There was no difference between men and women.” — Asmaa Mahfouz, an Egyptian activist

Egypt is advanced in its treatment of women in many ways, allowing them to attend college, work outside the home, and both run and vote in all elections.

Yet adult women’s literacy is only 58%, less than a quarter of workers are female, and a divorced woman loses custody of her children if she remarries.

Recently of political concern to women:

• There aren’t any women on the committee to draft Egypt’s new constitution
• There is now only one woman in the cabinet (down from four)

Also, because some key feminist issues, such as the banning of female genital mutilation, were championed by Hosni Mubarak’s wife, there is concern that those advances might suffer because they carry the taint of the toppled regime.

“They weren’t Suzanne Mubarak’s laws. She gave a little push towards the end, but we did the work.” — Hoda Badran, head of the Alliance for Arab Women

Tunisia is particularly progressive when it comes to women’s rights, but women there fear losing those rights if religious conservatives take hold of the government.

WOMEN UNLIKELY TO FARE WELL IN ELECTIONS

Both countries have introduced modest quotas to ensure women are on electoral lists, but it’s overwhelmingly male candidates topping those lists. The few women who do get elected will have to work hard to make their voices heard.

One woman who has a particularly good shot of getting noticed is already recognizable, former TV presenter Bothaina Kamel. She will be the first woman to run for president of Egypt.

“This is the time for change.”— Hoda Badran

With so many women in these countries worried about everyday concerns like feeding and schooling their children, women’s rights issues don’t seem to move the general public. Instead, feminist issues are usually advanced by the “elites” (e.g. lawyers, academics, and presidents’ wives).

However, the Arab Spring turned multitudes of ordinary women into activists, encouraging new generations to take to the streets — and soon, perhaps, to take government office.