CAIRO // Increased involvment in politics, a bigger role in business and equal rights to men.
These promises have been made to women by Egypt's presidential candidates from across the political spectrum as they seek to pull in female votes ahead of this week's election.
But women activists are worried politicians are merely paying lip service to improving women's rights and, in some cases, may even roll back some of the advances made in recent years.
Instead, what many here see as more pressing issues of the economy, religion and security have overshadowed calls for raising the status of women in Egypt, less than a year and a half after female activists helped lead the charge in the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
Women have remained under-represented in political movements that have gained influence since the demonstrations in Tahrir Square. Women won only 12 of the 508 seats in the Egyptian parliament after many parties placed their obligatory female candidates low on electoral lists.
Women account for 52 per cent of eligible voters in Egypt, but international witnesses during the elections said they saw "widespread pressure" on female voters, who often voted for the candidates supported by male family members.
Front-runners in the presidential election, from the former foreign minister Amr Moussa to the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi, have called for equality and economic development for women, but they offer few specifics on how they plan to do this, activists said.
Many remain unconvinced that improving the situation for women in Egypt is a priority.
"No one says how we can overcome all these issues," said Esraa Abdel Fattah, who created a Facebook page that helped kick off the April 6 Youth Movement, one of the major organisers of the January 25, 2011 demonstrations that sparked the uprising.
"We need a plan. We need to see that we have resources on the ground, how we can use those resources." she said.
Egypt ranked 113 out of 187 countries and territories in the United Nations Development Programme's 2011 Gender Inequality Index, which measured the gender gap in terms of reproductive health, empowerment, and the labour market.
Female protesters have recently received several violent reminders of the sexual harassment that has long run deep in society here.
Rights groups accused the army of performing "virginity tests" on female protesters last year and this month said soldiers and prison authorities sexually assaulted female protesters during and after Cairo clashes.
A demonstration marking International Women's Day last year was attacked by men who surrounded and sexually harassed women.
Dina Abouelsoud, a hostel owner who founded the Revolutionary Women's Coalition to strengthen female representation in revolutionary politics, said candidates would do well to offer more to women in their campaigns.
Female voters, she said, still make-up a large constituency that may force politicians to address issues that affect women.
"It will take ages," she said. "Women have to make women's rights a voting issue."
In the short term, she worries about what may happen if an Islamist comes to power. The Islamist majority in parliament has overseen discussions about legalising female genital mutilation, or female circumcision, which is a custom in Egypt, to prepare women sexually for marriage and adulthood. It was banned in recent years but is still widely practised.
Islamists also have discussed eliminating the progress made in divorce and child-custody laws.
"If one of the Islamists wins, it's very risky for human rights in general and women's rights in particular," Ms Abouelsoud said.
Many candidates have included women's empowerment in their electoral programmes but speak in generalities, devoting most of their pledges to other topics.
Mr Moussa hails women's contributions during the uprising last year, pledging to strengthen women's representation in politics and state institutions and promising a set of social services for the most vulnerable female citizens.
Mr Morsi's campaign echoes calls for economic assistance to women by giving "special support to women doing economic activities such as small businesses, [encouraging] pioneer women managing their own private enterprises" and "changing the negative stance of Egyptian culture regarding women's political participation by presenting successful role models and figures."
Fellow Islamist Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh has spoken of women's contributions to Egypt, and his programme includes "creating a climate that realises full participation for women in society at all levels," among other human-rights pledges.
Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force commander and Mubarak's last prime minister, backs building a democratic state based on social justice, and Hamdeen Sabahi, who ascribes to the political philosophy of former president Gamal Abdel Nasser, similarly incorporates the principles of equality and individual rights into his platform.
Angie Balata, who spent long days in Tahrir Square during the uprising and has returned frequently since for the protests that continued against the military rulers, is not concerned about an Islamist win. She says much anti-female discrimination, violence, and government policies stem from the time of secular leaders such as Mubarak, and in any case, thinks Islamists will not be able to rock the social status quo too much.
As long as cultural and religious norms continue to relegate women to secondary status, Ms Balata said, politician's ploys to place them on party lists or in symbolic positions will have no real effect.
"They're quota filling. They're not actually doing anything," said Ms Balata, who works in higher education. "That doesn't mean anything as long as the rhetoric in the country isn't actually changing."
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
What is a robo-adviser?
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
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Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Family: Parents and four sisters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah
A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls
Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction
Favourite holiday destination: Italy
Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning
Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes
Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
More on Quran memorisation:
The biog
From: Ras Al Khaimah
Age: 50
Profession: Electronic engineer, worked with Etisalat for the past 20 years
Hobbies: 'Anything that involves exploration, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, the sea, hiking, scuba diving, and adventure sports'
Favourite quote: 'Life is so simple, enjoy it'
