CAIRO: As the holy month of Ramadan comes to a close, women’s actiivsts are preparing for the Eid holiday that marks the end of the 30-day fast. In recent years, it has been on these holidays when dozens of crazed men have attacked groups of women, assaulting and harassing them. The issue has remained largely [...]

JERUSALEM: “What is it like to live in Egypt as a Western woman?” During the years I lived in Cairo, I was often asked this question while visiting my native Finland, or when traveling outside the Middle East. My short answer was “different”. In fact, I was asked this so many times that I decided [...]

CAIRO: Reem is a 21-year-old Egyptian woman who recently graduated from university and is looking forward to the future. A degree in hand, she is readying herself for success. But like the vast majority of women in Egypt, she was the victim of a sexual assault that took place in Egypt’s many public spaces: on [...]

CAIRO: The issue has remained largely on the sidelines of Egypt’s social mold for years despite being violently shoved into the mainstream in October 2006. During the Eid celebrations that follow the Holy Month of Ramadan that year, tens of young men and boys attacked female bystanders, ripping at their clothing and groping them, in [...]

CAIRO: The General Assembly of the United Nations named Egypt as the head of the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Development Fund for Women for next three years, according to an announcement by Farkhanda Hassan, Secretary-General of the National Council for Women and the representative of Egypt in the fund. Women’s rights groups and [...]

CAIRO: Egyptian member of Parliament Georgette Kellini of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), submitted a proposal of a draft law to address sexual harassment through the amendment of the Penal Code to the Egyptian Parliament last week. The move is being welcomed by Egyptian women’s activists, who have long called on the government to [...]

CAIRO: The Egyptian Government, represented by the National Council for Women, in Geneva last Friday, was confronted by 30 Egyptian NGOs when each of those organizations presented their reports on the status of women in Egypt to the Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Farhkanda Hassan [...]

ALEXANDRIA: Just a decade ago, a mobile phone was a luxury in Egypt. Not only were they expensive enough to ensure only the affluent carried them, but the running costs of owning a mobile phone were quite high. Back then, a single minute cost 1.75 Egyptian pounds, while a landline minute cost 2 piasters. Fast [...]