Progress for some, but institutional challenges for all

Despite recent gains, Egyptian women are seeing challenges to their rights and duties as citizens. Women are struggling to have their own development keep up with the shifting landscape in both personal and professional life. Furthermore, despite official attempts to promote gender equality, with more women in cabinet and on boards than ever before, long-held patriarchal attitudes continue to restrict the roles of women in the public and private spheres. On June 1, 2021, the Middle East Institute hosted Equality for Some: Changes to Women’s Rights in Egypt to discuss and better understand the socioeconomic consequences of these restrictions and the social movements taking place to forward the feminist movement. The speakers were:

Hoda El-Sadda

Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Cairo University

Mozn Hassan

Founder and executive director, Nazra for Feminist Studies

Mirette F. Mabrouk (moderator)

Senior fellow and director, Egypt program, MEI

The movement in context:

El-Sadda explained the context of the current feminist movement in her discussion about the current status of personal status laws in Egypt. In February 2021, the Egyptian cabinet approved a draft proposal of the new personal status laws that consolidated gendered inequalities and added new restrictions on women’s legal capacity. Currently, women have the legal status equivalent to minors, under tutelage of a male family member to make decisions on the behalf of women in the family. Meanwhile, the legal system can continue to create regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles that impede women’s mobility and guardianship of their children.

The legal subordination of women, according to El-Sadda, has been translated into decisions and regulations implemented by state institutions. When laws were changed in 1956 that granted women universal suffrage and equal rights in the public sphere, these practices were not paralleled in the private sector. While amendments have been added in order to address specific, minor, aspects of these laws, they fail to address the philosophy behind the law and governing logic while cementing religious practices.

The feminist movement and the state

Hassan argued that since the Arab Spring in 2011, there has been change that caused new actors to surface and mobilize – propelling the feminist movement into its current place. While violence is not the primary issue for educated women, Hassan emphasized the importance of the past ten years as demonstrating a dynamic movement that has shown the importance of independence and strength in community.

El-Sadda clarified the role played by the Egyptian government. Rather than acting as a proactive source of equality and protection, the Egyptian government’s amendments on personal status law have been attempts to extinguish social fires at a retroactive pace. While there is a general increase in female representation in government and education, the relationship between the state and social movements like the current feminist campaign is difficult. The state aims to dominate or destroy independent movements, so many of the challenges facing Egyptian women today remain the same since the 1950s. There is little hope for the future of the Egyptian state to act as a proactive and engaged member of the equality dialogue.

The future of the movement

According to Hassan, the feminist movement has created allows for the development and promotion of individual campaigns throughout the public. It is evolving alongside technologies and social media, while drawing on the context of government and civil society structure created by past generations.

El-Sadda concluded the panel with hope for the future. She believes that the women’s movement in Egypt has become the most successful social movement of the 20^th century, despite obstacles along the way. There exists a transformative nature within this feminist movement that has the innate ability to pass through generations. El-Sadda claims that due to more courage, increased social media presence and relevance, and the new generation of politically engaged feminists, the movement gives hope for all Egyptian women.