Women in Egypt

Cleopatra and Julius Caesar

Two women holding large water jugs. One is carrying an infant (1878)

Women were stated lower than men when it came to a higher leader in the Egyptian hierarchy counting his peasants. This hierarchy was similar to the way the peasants were treated in the Middle Ages.[4] As children, females were raised to be solely dependent upon their fathers and older brothers. When women married, they depended on their husbands to make all decisions, while the women themselves were depended upon to carry out household chores.

Married Egyptian women were expected by their husband's families to bear children, but particularly males. It was common for married couples to continue to reproduce until bearing at least two sons. Barrenness was considered a severe misfortune for Egyptian women, as well as the inability to produce male offspring. Women who had only bore females were given derogatory names, such as "mothers of brides". A family with well-grown sons was considered to have decent security. An Egyptian woman was thought to be at the peak of her power when her sons had married because she automatically acquired the control over the newly growing families of her sons.

Women have traditionally been preoccupied with household tasks and child rearing and have rarely had opportunities for contact with men outside the family. Royal Egyptian women had great impact on Egyptian Society. Queen Tiye, the grandmother of King Tut was so enmeshed in politics that neighboring King Mitanni wrote to her to ensure good will between their people when her son Akhenaten ascended to the throne.[5] Queen Aahmose was awarded the golden flies for military valor.[5]

Cleopatra and Nefertiti were among the better known rulers in Egyptian society. Cleopatra was known to have ruled with Marc Antony around 31 BC and she was also the Co-regent of her two husband-brothers and her son.[6] Nefertiti was the chief wife of an Egyptian pharaoh, Amenhotep IV. Nefertiti was known to be an active Egyptian woman in society, as well as her children.[7] In addition to female Egyptian rulers, Hatshepsut usurped the throne[5] and reigned in Egypt as pharaoh from about 1503 to 1480 B.C. She based most of Egypt's economy on commerce.[8]

Though not many women have acted as rulers in Egyptian society, they have been considered to be equal among men in status as well as legal opportunities. Women were shown to be allowed the opportunity to take part in the economy, such as their role as merchants, as it happened later in the Roman Empire, specially among the lower classes. Women had also taken part in religious activities, such as those who were priestesses. In the Sixth Dynasty Nebet became a Vizier and thus the first woman in History to fulfill such an office.

Women could also own property, divorce their husbands, live alone and occupy main positions, mostly religious, in similarity with Assyrian women. Only the children from the Great Royal Wife could expect to succeed to the throne, and if there were no son but daughters by her, then a son by another wife or concubine could only get the throne by marrying the heir daughter, and whoever did so would become the new King. Either through political and/or religious power, some women managed to become, de facto or de jure, the highest office holders in the kingdom, and share a status of co-rulers with men, even being depicted in monuments with the same height as their husbands or otherwise and even as the other Gods of Egypt.

Such were the cases of Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Nefertari and the Nubian Egyptian Queens. The further Nubian Queens were able to maintain this status. The most important religious offices of that kind were those of God's Wife and God's Wife of Amun. Politically, they often managed to become Interregnum queens. In the Ptolemaic Dynasty this rise to power was sublimated with the establishment of a coregency system, in which Queens had the same position as Kings and were even powerful enough to obtain in dispute that coregency for themselves.

Circa the 1890s, twice the percentage of women in Alexandria knew how to read compared to the same percentage in Cairo. As a result, specialist women's publications like al-Fatāh by Hind Nawal, the country's first women's journal, appeared.[9]

Harem women make public speeches - "This is the first time that Egyptian women have been permitted freedom of speech in public" - June 1919

School girls visiting the Egyptian Temple of Isis from Philae Island (1995).

To limit women's contact with men as tradition, practices such as veiling and gender segregation at schools, work, and recreation have become common. Furthermore, lower-class families, especially in Upper-Egypt, have tended to withdraw females from school as they reached puberty to minimize their interaction with males. Lower-class men frequently preferred marriage to women who had been secluded rather than to those who had worked or attended secondary school.

The rule of Gamal Abdul Nasser was characterized by his policy of stridently advocating women's rights through welfare-state policies, labeled as state feminism. Women were guaranteed the right to vote and equality of opportunity was explicitly stated in the 1956 Egyptian constitution, forbidding gender-based discrimination. Labor laws were changed to ensure women's standing in the work force and maternity leave was legally protected. At the same time, the state repressed independent feminist organizations, leaving a dearth of female political representation.[10]

The economic liberalization plan of the Sadat regime resulted in the collapse of this system and the resurgence of Islamist-influenced policy. While the Nasserist years allowed a wide range of study for women, Sadat's policies narrowed the opportunities available to women. Unemployment for women changed from 5.8% 1960 to 40.7% in 1986. In place of policies to economically support women during pregnancy, women were encouraged to leave work entirely or work part-time.[10]

The Mubarak years were marked by further erosion of the role of women. Preserved parliamentary seats for women and the 1979 personal status law were repealed in 1987, a new watered-down law taking its place that allowed less power for women in cases of divorce.[10]

The migration of a large number of Egyptians, mostly men, has also affected the status of Egyptian women. A study by the International Organization for Migration found that two-thirds of migrant household interviewed were headed by a woman in the absence of the male migrant (husband/father). For these households, remittances represented an important source of income, accounting for 43% of their total income. 52% of wives of the migrants independently decided how to spend the money received. In the remaining cases, the head of the household enjoyed a fair deal of autonomy as the decision on how to use the remittance money was reached through mutual consultation between the migrant and the head of the household and only in a few cases (11%) did the migrant decide alone.[11]

A 2010 Pew Research Center poll showed that 45% of Egyptian men and 76% of women supported gender equality.[12] The same poll showed that, in principle, people tend to accept a woman's right to work outside the home, with 61% of the respondents agreeing that "women should be able to work outside the home", but at the same time showing some reservations, with only 11% of men and 36% of women completely agreeing with that statement; and 75% agreeing that "when jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job".[13] Polls taken in 2010 and 2011 show that 39% considered gender equality "very important" to Egypt's future post-revolution and 54% of Egyptians supported sex segregation in the workplace.[14][15]

Female genital mutilation was criminalized in Egypt in 2008.[16] In 2012, UNICEF reported that 87% of Egyptian women and girls 15–49 years old had undergone female genital mutilation.[17] In June 2013 13-year-old Soheir al-Batea died after undergoing FGM. The doctor responsible for the procedure became the first doctor in Egypt to be tried for committing female genital mutilation. On November 20, 2014 he was found not guilty.[18]

Virginity tests done by the military on detainees were banned in Egypt on 27 December 2011.[19]

The literacy rate of women (aged 15 and over) is 65.4%, which is lower than that of men which is 82.2% (data from 2015).[20] Egypt is largely rural country, with only 43.1% of the population being urban (in 2015),[21] and access to education is poor in rural areas.

Most women in Egypt have adopted some form of veiling,[22] with a majority of Egyptian women covering at least their hair with the hijab; however covering the face with a niqāb is only practiced by a minority of women (see Niqāb in Egypt).

Families are usually of medium size, with the total fertility rate (TFR) being 3.53 children born/woman (2016 estimate).[21] The contraception prevalence rate is high, at 60.3% (in 2008).[21]

In a 2013 poll of gender experts, Egypt ranked worst for women's rights out of all the Arab states.[23]

Dreaming of marriage?

Marriage was considered a very important part in ancient Egyptian society. Marriage was an almost completely private affair, and as a result, not many records of marriage were kept.[40] Furthermore, not all Egyptian marriages were arranged, rather, most daughters had persuaded their families for their approval towards their future spouses.

Egyptian women who were married were highly acknowledged. It was common for females to marry after the age of menstruation, such as age 14. They were usually considered married after they had left the protection of their father's house. It had also been acknowledged that though the woman became under her spouse's care, her husband did not become her legal guardian and the woman remained independent while controlling her own assets. For the non-royal women in ancient Egypt, the title of wife also came with the title "Mistress of the House". The role as a wife included taking care of the household.

Egypt's laws pertaining to marriage and divorce have changed over the years, however they have generally favored the social position of men, although reform continues. Egypt retained the inclusion of Islamic law in dealings of family law, following on from its judicial and administrative independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1874.[41] Muslim husbands were traditionally allowed to have up to four wives at a time in accordance with Islamic religious custom, but a woman could have only one husband at a time. A Muslim man could divorce his wife with ease by saying "I divorce thee" on three separate occasions in the presence of witnesses. The first reforms that changed this state of affairs came in the 1920s with Law No.25 of 1920 and 1929. These reforms included the following specifics regarding legitimate grounds for a woman requesting a divorce:

1. If her husband failed to provide maintenance. (nafaqah)
2. If her husband was found to have a dangerous or contagious disease.
3. If she was deserted by her husband.
4. If she was maltreated by her husband.[42]

In 1971 further reforms were made. Dr.Aisha Ratib became Minister of Social Affairs and in November the following revisions were suggested and implemented :

1. That the age for legal marriage should be raised to 18 for women and 21 for men
2. That the permission of a judge was required for polygamy
3. That divorces could not take place without a judge being present
4. That the mother should be allowed a greater period of guardianship, but also that guardianship in the case of divorce should go to the parent deemed most suitable to provide it
5. That judges should have more involvement in family law cases, and that female judges should be considered to deal with family law cases.[43]

The government amended the laws relating to personal status in 1979. The amendments, which became known as the "women's rights law," were in the form of a presidential decree and subsequently approved by the People's Assembly. The leading orthodox Islamic clergy endorsed these amendments, but Islamist groups opposed them as state infringements of religious precepts and campaigned for their repeal. The amendments stated that polygamy was legally harmful to a first wife and entitled her to sue for divorce within a year after learning of her husband's second marriage. The amendments also entitled the first wife to compensation.

A husband retained the right to divorce his wife without recourse to the courts, but he was required to file for his divorce before witnesses at a registrar's office and officially and immediately to inform his wife. The divorced wife was entitled to alimony equivalent to one year's maintenance in addition to compensation equivalent to two years' maintenance; a court could increase these amounts under extenuating circumstances such as the dissolution of a long marriage. The divorced wife automatically retained custody of sons under the age of ten and daughters under twelve; courts could extend the mother's custody of minors until their eighteenth birthdays.

Women during the 2011 Egyptian revolution

In 1985 Egyptian authorities ruled that the amendments of 1979 were unconstitutional because they had been enacted through a presidential decree while the People's Assembly was not in session. A new law reversed many of the rights accorded to women in 1979. A woman lost her automatic right to divorce her husband if he married a second wife. She could still petition a court to consider her case, but a judge would grant a divorce only if it were in the interests of the family. If a divorce were granted, the judge would also determine what was an appropriate residence for the divorced woman and her children.

The changes in divorce legislation in 1979 and 1985 did not significantly alter the divorce rate, which has been relatively high since the early 1950s. About one in five marriages ended in divorce in the 1980s. Remarriage was common, and most divorced men and women expected to wed again. Seven out of ten divorces took place within the first five years of marriage, and one out of three in the first year. The divorce rate depended on residence and level of education. The highest divorce rates were among the urban lower class, the lowest rates among the villagers of Upper Egypt. Throughout the country, as much as 95 percent of all divorces occurred among couples who were illiterate.

Marital rape is not specifically outlawed in Egypt.[44]

• Jehan El Sadat
• Sameera Moussa
• Rawya Ateya
• Nawal El Saadawi
• Ester Fanous
• Maya Morsy, head of Egypt's National Council for Women
• Hoda Shaarawi
• Doria Shafik
• Safeya Zaghloul

• 678 (film)
• Abduction of Coptic women
• Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights
• Feminism in Egypt
• Gender inequality in Egypt
• HARASSmap
• Judiciary of Egypt
• Operation Anti Sexual Harassment
• Rape in Egypt
• Mass sexual assault in Egypt
• Women's role in the 2011 revolution

General:

• Women in Islam
• Women in Arab societies

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/. (Data from 1990.)

• Beatty, Chester. 1998. egyptology.com (accessed April 12, 2009)
• Brunner, Emma. 1979. Birth of Hatshepsut web.archive.org (accessed April 12, 2009).
• Dunham, D. 1917. Naga-ed-Der Stelae of the First Intermediate Period. fordham.edu (accessed April 12, 2009).
• Piccione, Peter A. 1995. The Status of Women in Ancient Egyptian Society. web.archive.org (accessed April 12, 2009).
• Tappan, Eva March. 1914. The World's Story: A History of the World in Story, Song and Art. fordham.edu (accessed April 12, 2009)
• The Statues of Women in Egyptian Society. library.cornell.edu (accessed April 12, 2009)
• Ward, William. The Egyptian Economy and Non-royal Women: Their Status in Public Life. stoa.org (accessed April 12, 2009)
• Women in Ancient Egypt." Women in Ancient Egypt. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2016.
• El-Ashmawy, Nadeen. "Sexual Harassment in Egypt." Hawwa 15, no. 3 (2017): 225-256.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Women of Egypt.

• Ancient Egyptian Women