CAIRO - Nearly a year after the January 25 revolution, in which they played a prominent role, the future of Egyptian women still hangs in the balance. On January 25, when the revolution began, huge crowds protested against Hosni Mubarak. Egyptian women stood in the frontline of the revolution, shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. When the protests turned into battles with police, women faced the tear gas with the men; and, when protesters settled in for the long haul and occupied Tahrir Square, women were among those who pitched their tents and slept in the cold. These Egyptian women were active throughout the revolution; some of them were among its leaders. In Tahrir Square, female protesters, some with their children, organised, reported on and worked to support the protests. They were active throughout the revolution. In January and February, many revolutionaries were martyred, sacrificing their lives as they demanded dignity for all Egyptians. Nor can we ignore the role played by the martyrs' mothers. They are the real heroines of 2011 and the revolution. They work so hard to bring up their children to be good citizens of whom society can be proud, but many of them had to collect their children's bodies from the mortuary, their dreams shattered forever. Mothers, whose children were killed during so-called peaceful demonstrations, are still very distraught. In March, millions of women voted in the referendum on the constitutional amendments. They queued for hours to cast their ballots, expressing their opinions on an important political matter. There are many presidential hopefuls, all of them men, except for the courageous television anchor Bothaina Kamel. "Women can handle anything. I'm going to run for president to convince people that it's not impossible for women to govern the country,” she said in an interview with the Egyptian Mail. "As a woman, I want to support the role of women, without antagonising men. The former regime tried to empower women in a way that provoked men,” she added. Being a female presidential candidate in Egypt, whose society still suffers from discrimination, is no easy thing; many Egyptians wonder how they could ever be ruled by a woman and how men could accept orders from them. Don't they realise that women might have good ideas for improving Egypt, making it progress? Prominent institutions in Egypt must fight against this discrimination, to ensure that women can get some real political space. The Government should apply laws giving women the right to participate in political life. In April, May and June, many NGO's, most of them headed by a woman, were busy trying to educate people about their rights, including their electoral rights. Although women are playing a vital role in this country, none of them leads a political party. In October, Yemen's Tawakul Karman won the Nobel Peace Prize for 'her non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for the right of women right to fully participate in peace-building work'. She has given hope to all women, especially Egyptian women. Israa Abdel Fattah, an Egyptian political activist, was nominated for the same prize and all Egyptian women are proud of her. The fact that two Arab women were nominated for this Nobel Prize this year is a sign that there is still hope for women. In November, the first round of the parliamentary elections was held, with an impressive voter turnout. In Egypt, getting women to run in the parliamentary elections is one thing, but their winning is another. The interim regime has also cancelled women's quota in Parliament. In the current elections, most of the parties have been putting the names of their women candidates at the end of the list and the men's names at its top. Despite all these problems facing women, many of them are running in the 2011 elections, as they want to have a say in Egypt's political future. There have been many women candidates, the most popular being Gamila Ismail, a political activist, but they haven't been successful in this patriarchal society, where they suffer from discrimination. "Women are at the centre of the transformation and change in Egypt," Gamila said in a recent conference at the French Institute in Madrid, sponsored by the International Co-operation Ministry. "Egyptian women led the January 25 Revolution in Tahrir Square and they are demanding their rights and their country's rights. "We, as women, have to overcome the fear which has lived inside us for many years. We must also overcome our fear of the Salafists,” she added. There have been three cabinets this year, with only two women ministers. Under the former regime, there were very few women ministers too. With the rise of the Islamic groups since the revolution, women are facing a big challenge. Most of them are against the way the Islamic groups think, as they feel that they want to exclude women from the political scene, because they see them only as mothers and housewives. Though they have fought for their nation's freedom, some women now fear they are being sidelined in the process of building the New Egypt. In December, something that was entirely unexpected happened: women had their rights horribly violated. During a demonstration outside the Cabinet building, a soldier harshly beat a woman and ripped off her clothing, while dragging her along the ground. This shocking incident impelled about 15,000 women to demonstrate outside the high court. The year has ended with women being humiliated. These women, who want to rid the country of the corruption of the old regime, are now demanding their dignity.
