Egypt

Egyptian feminist writer and activist Nawal El Saadawi on her country's long-awaited revolution and why Egypt still has a long way to go. Watch the video at the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2011/jul/25/nawal-el-saadawi-revolution-video.

The NGOs signing below express their worry and extreme anger from the Personal Status Law decree project that counselor Abdallah El Baga, president of the Family Appeal Court, presented under title "number 25 January" for year 2011 to Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf. The project includes 7 articles, where El Baga demands in the first one, the cancellation of (El Khol'), and in the third article he demands that a mother's custody would end when the male child reaches 7 years old and female child reaches 10 years old. In article four he demands, that the father has sole educational guardianship and in case that the foster mother is inflicted she should go to court. In article five, he talks about enforcing wife obedience by coercive force in case that the wife doesn't object to the warning in time, or that a finale verdict has been issued in addition to the cessation of her alimony till she is back to obedience.

No for Military Trials group, El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Nazra for Feminist Studies, New Women Foundation and Hisham Mubarak Law Center filed a law suit before of the Administrative Court against the Commander in Chief of the Military Forces and the Minister of Defense and others appealing the decision of forcing women to examine their virginity in military prisons and detention places for Armed Forces.

أقامت مجموعة لا للمحاكمات العسكرية ومركز النديم لتأهيل ضحايا العنف والمبادرة المصرية للحقوق الشخصية ومؤسسة نظرة للدراسات النسوية ومؤسسة المرأة الجديدة ومركز هشام مبارك للقانون دعوى قضائية أمام محكمة القضاء الإداري ضد القائد العام للقوات المسلحة ووزير الدفاع وآخرين طعنا على قرار إخضاع الفتيات للكشف على عذريتهن داخل السجون العسكرية وأماكن الاحتجاز التابعة للقوات المسلحة.

The enormous role of women in the uprisings in the MENA region is undisputed. They faced verbal and physical abuse, violence, arrest and death just as their male counterparts. The transformation of these countries has been groundbreaking, and their participation is as important as ever. After the dust of the battle settles, will Arab societies remember to include women in the rebuilding of their countries?

This report is part of a WLUML three-part series on women’s rights in the context of the ‘Arab uprisings’. Next week: Syria: Debates on women’s bodily autonomy and sexual violence.

 

In the wake of the 25 January Revolution in Egypt, and throughout ongoing political developments, women’s and human rights organization in Egypt have been fully aware of what they have to gain – or lose. Seeking to build on women’s participation in the revolution and capitalize on a moment of immense hope and possibility, different groups have joined forces to demand greater representation for women in parliament and on national councils and committees. Their main concerns are the need both to expand women’s roles in a new, democratic Egypt and to safeguard hard-earned gains in women’s rights achieved over the past few decades.

A senior Egyptian general admits that "virginity checks" were performed on women arrested at a demonstration this spring, the first such admission after previous denials by military authorities. The allegations arose in an Amnesty International report, published weeks after the March 9 protest. It claimed female demonstrators were beaten, given electric shocks, strip-searched, threatened with prostitution charges and forced to submit to virginity checks. At that time, Maj. Amr Imam said 17 women had been arrested but denied allegations of torture or "virginity tests." But now a senior general who asked not to be identified said the virginity tests were conducted and defended the practice.

شارك عدد كبير من النساء المصريات في مسيرة " لا للفتنة الطائفية " التي أطلت علي مصر بوجهها القبيح من حي إمبابة، للتأكيد علي قيم المواطنة والتسامح ولدرء الفتن التي شهدتها المنطقة ومناطق مختلفة في مصر بعد الثورة . ويؤكد المركز علي أن الأمر يعد محاولة مكشوفة لإجهاض ثورة يناير وتصفيتها من خلال استخدام النساء في أحداث الفتنة. ويشيد المركز بمشاركة المرأة في هذه المسيرة من كافة القوي السياسية وكذلك من نساء إمبابة اللاتي شاركن بكافة أنماطهن من ربات منزل، وموظفات؛ مسلمات يحملن الصليب ومسيحيات يؤكدن بهتافهن علي المواطنة الكاملة. ويري المركز أن مشاركة النساء في تلك المسيرة جاءت تاكيداً علي رفضهن لاستخدامهن، وتأكيدهن علي رفض استغلال الدين بإسمهن من منطلق المتاجرة بالدين من الجانبين . 

A large number of Egyptian women participated in a march entitled "No to sectarian strife" which appeared with its ugly face in the district of Imbaba. They participated in this march to stress the values of citizenship and tolerance and to prevent the strife that has been witnessed in the district and in many different places in Egypt after the revolution. The Egyptian Center for Women's Rights affirms that the incidents that happened between Muslims and Christians are a clear attempt to abort the 25th of January revolution through the use of women to fuel strife.

تعرب المنظمة العربية لحقوق الإنسان عن بالغ قلقها من التهديدات التي تلقتها الناشطة الحقوقية "نهاد أبو القمصان" مدير المركز المصري لحقوق المرأة، وذلك على صلة بمواقفها المدافعة عن محاولات العصف بمكتسبات المرأة بتصديها لمحاولات التراجع عنها من خلال ما تواتر من ضغوط تعديل قانون الأحوال الشخصية الحالي.

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