A DECISION by Egypt's State Council an agency that handles legal contentions between civil servants and the State to prevent women from becoming judges in the nation's courts has made the blood of women and several human rights activists boil. Anger was expressed and meetings were held in women rights organisations in protest against the decision, which was taken a few days ago. “It's not the role of women that is waning, but it's the role of men actually,” said Furkhanda Hassan, the chief of Egypt's National Women Council. “The decision of the council has shocked society,” she added in a statement on Thursday. Women's rights groups say preventing women from becoming judges at the nation's courts reflects a deep-seated discrimination against Egypt's females, a matter that might undermine this country's efforts to improve its human rights record. Women's rights were actually a hot issue in debates over Egypt's report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday as some council's members called on Egypt to give women equal rights. Some people say the thing that makes the decision of the State Council more shocking is that there is a woman judge at the Constitutional Court, by far this country's most prestigious law centre. The State Council itself includes a woman judge. “I don't know how the judges of the council managed to take a decision like this one?” asked Nehad Abul Qomsan, a human rights' activist. “This is a step backwards,” she added in an interview with Egyptian TV Wednesday night. The decision of the council adds yet more challenges to women on the way of enjoying full equality with the nation's men, some people say. It even portents yet more confrontations between the State and women's rights groups. Egyptian women's struggle for equality has been on for a long time now. “Society can't do without women if it really wants to take steps forward,” Hassan said. “Women contribute half of this country's development,” she added.
