Women Betrayed by Men they Supported

"STAY HOME, DON'T GET INVOLVED IN POLITICS"

Watching the scenes of uprising across the Middle East and North Africa in recent weeks it is impossible to deny that women have played a crucial role in the struggle for freedom and democracy. Despite their heroic role in Egypt, the post-revolution committee appointed to revise the constitution was all male, as human rights activist El-Saadawi put it “The blood of the women killed in the revolution is still wet, and we were being betrayed”.



Egyptian women try to head to Tahrir Square to commemorate International Women's Day

When women turned up in Tahrir Square, Cairo last week to celebrate International Women’s Day it didn’t go down well with the men. The women were harassed, jostled, sexually assaulted and told to go back home “where they belonged”. In Egypt women are routinely harassed for walking the streets and expected to “stay at home and raise presidents, not run for president” says journalist Fairda Helmy.

If the dramatic uprisings in the Arab world are to mean true change for the region then women’s rights could well be the barometer of a nations new freedom. Naomi Wolf said last week: “What is true for Egypt is true, to a greater or lesser extent, throughout the Arab world. When women change, everything changes, and women in the Muslim world are changing radically”.

We cannot be blind to the risks Muslim and Arab women take every day to uphold their beliefs in equality and justice.  A democratically elected female President in the Arab world is a revolution we should all be fighting for.

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Take Action: http://amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/creating-new-egypt-must-include-women

Maynooth boys participate in 'Walk a Mile In Her Shoes'