Egyptian acitivsts continue the fight for equality

The demonstrations in the Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, continues. And so does the violence. The situation is more uncertain than ever as to what will happen with the upcoming elections that are scheduled to take place on November 28.

Mid November Kvinna till Kvinna met Hoda Badran, President of the Alliance of Arab Women, a regional network of women organizations who have spent the last 15 years working to strengthen women’s political participation in the Middle East.

– After a revolution it seems only reasonable to assume that people would have a better protection of their rights than before. But it’s obvious that that isn’t the case, and especially not when it comes to women’s rights. Women have participated in each and every revolution through history, and still experiences from France, Algeria, Kyrgyzstan, show that afterwards they have been forced to take a step back, that their rights have diminished. History repeats itself.

Hoda Badran was also recently elected President of the Egyptian Feminist Union. 3 000 Egyptian organizations then declared their support for rebuilding the Feminist Union, an organization originally founded in 1923, but forbidden since the military revolution in the 1950’s.

Long-term the Feminist Union wants to change the family law in Egypt and increase Egyptian women’s knowledge of reading and writing. But right now it’s the upcoming elections that has priority. Through information campaigns and education efforts all around the country, the Feminist Union hope to get more women to vote, and to make their own, independent, choices.

– This year is of crucial importance – we are voting for a new parliament, a new president and we will adopt a new constitution. If women don’t participate, we’ll lose everything, says Hoda Badran.

The goal is to get 5 million women to vote.

– But even if we only get 3 or 4 million, if they just put their votes on good candidates, Egyptian women can have a decisive influence on the outcome of the election.

– The biggest challenge is that we have so little time. Egypt is a big country and our election system is very complex. The women organizations among our members are coordinated and have a structure that facilitates them reaching out to many people, but it’s still a fight against the clock.

Supporting women to candidate for parliament
A part from getting women to the ballot boxes, The Feminist Union also work with encouraging women to get engaged in politics – to highlight and pursue different issues – and with supporting women who run for political office.

– There are many strong women candidates to vote for. Several of them run as politically independent candidates, which takes a lot of courage, says Hoda Badran.

But the main point is still which political vision a party or an independent candidate has.

– Our current economical system has favored a small elite and the social rifts in Egypt have increased significantly. To get our support the candidates have to present a credible political platform on how to change that system, as well as a plan for how to come to terms with the problems with the education system and how they plan to secure women’s rights.

Religious parties have a lot of supporters and can come to influence Egypt’s political development.

– Truthfully the religious parties frighten me a lot. They are so well organized and use religion to serve their political agenda. NDP (Mubarak’s party) is also a great threat because so many from the old regime are still active within it. So we have two big enemies to fight, says Hoda Badran.

– We are trying to get the message out that people should not vote for any of these groups. If the Muslim Brotherhood or any of the other islamic parties get the power, it will be devastating for the Egyptian economy as well as for women’s rights. And if Mubarak’s supporters in NDP win the election we are stuck in the same system as before. Then we will need a new revolution.

During the old system the Egyptian election law guaranteed a 20 per cent quota for women in the parliament, something the current military government have abolished. Now the only demand is that the parties have to have at least one women candidate on their lists. A problem with this system is that many women will end up way down on the lists, which makes it almost impossible for them to get elected. A catastrophe according to Hoda Badran.

– How can they oppose the rights of half the country’s population to gain influence and contribute to our future? It’s not just women’s rights we talk about, but Egypt’s right to get to use all the knowledge and capacity that the women of this country possesses. It’s such a huge resource, that they just choose to ignore. That makes me furious!

Lena Wallquist