Out of the kitchen, but not yet into politics

      
    
 
Rasha Mehyar and Yomna Kamel Middle East Times staff


As Egypt enters the 21st century and celebrates the 100th year anniversary of Qasim Amin's call to emancipate Egyptian women, it is clear that women have made strides in many fields around the country.

Where they remain startlingly absent, however, is in politics, which it is still overwhelmingly a male-dominated field.

It is a fact that Egyptian women's participation in political life has progressed over the last few decades. However, when compared to their participation in other fields, it is still very limited.

Such limited participation is traced back to two main factors, namely the lack of democracy and the lack of awareness among women.

While the number of women holding seats in parliament grew from six to 18 between 1976 and 1990, in 1995 it dropped down to eight – four of which had to be appointed by the president. This is despite the fact that 87 ran for office. Now, women make up less than 2 percent of the Assembly. By contrast, women comprise over 40 percent of senior academic staff in universities.

"Women's political participation is very small in Egypt, but one cannot blame women for that, it is the system itself. The system is extremely undemocratic and part of being undemocratic is not having women participate," said Negad Borai, chairman of the Group for Democratic Development (GDD).

Borai adds that a lack of political awareness among women is part of the problem and that they do not participate because they do not know that they should. However, awareness is one of the tools of democracy.

"Once there is democracy then there would be awareness. Then it would be worth having an awareness campaign. What is the use of creating awareness campaigns, when the women know that their voice would not be heard. When they know that the electoral results will be the same whether or not they participate in it or not," he says.

Making Egyptian women more aware of their political rights is the goal of a number of NGOs. Seham Negm, head of the Center for Women and Society, says that the center carries out workshops to create political awareness amongst illiterate women and those who want to continue their education. The women are shown that they can have electoral cards and vote, and that their voice will make a difference.

However, other economic and social factors affect women's participation and should be considered when educating them about their political rights.

According to a study carried out by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), 64 percent of women said that economic difficulties left them with insufficient time to be interested in public affairs.

Negm explains that it is difficult for poor women to be politically active when they are spending most of their time just trying to make ends meet.

"It is not always the case that women say 'we don't care about what is happening it is none of our business.' To the contrary, women in slum areas are the ones who stand out and voice their opinions. So, if we tell them how to participate they will really help. Also, political participation in rural areas is much higher than in urban areas, since a woman will go and vote for an entire family or tribe," Negm said.

Limited women's political participation is not a phenomenon exclusive to Egypt, but is found in all Arab countries.

According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union's (IPU) 1998 statistics, the highest percentage of women in parliaments exists in the Nordic countries at 37.6 percent, and the lowest in the Arab states 3.3 percent.

Also, the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UNDAW) Fact Sheet on Women in Government stated in 1996 that the percentage of women in both ministerial and sub-ministerial levels ranges from 0 percent (in about 15 countries) to 30% in two countries. It is notable that out of the 15 countries with 0 percent of women in government positions in 1996, eight were Arab countries.