Tuesday October 29, 2019                      By: Thanaa Hesham

Recently, I have been going through a lot in my life. Each day I ask myself, “Why am I thinking too much?” After reading the book “Women Who Think Too Much”, by Dr. Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Professor of Psychology at Yale University, I was surprised to learn that women, all over the world, think more than men. In fact, Dr. Hoeksema proved in one of her studies that women think as twice as much as men….continue reading…

October 15, 2019                      By: UN Women 

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Rural Women celebrates and honors the role of rural women on October 15 each year. It recognizes rural women’s importance in enhancing agricultural and rural development worldwide…continue reading…

Sunday October 13, 2019             ـــ By: Menna Doubal

Millions of girls around the world are deprived from their basic rights. They live in continuous struggle because of their gender. They are considered inferior to males and treated as such; deprived from education, exposed to violence, sex exploitation and child marriages….continue reading….

Wednesday August 7, 2019                   By: Lara Ahmed

Summer is clearly in the air, and the heat wave has people rushing to beaches to cool off and have fun.  Everyone is slipping confidently into their new swimsuits and favorite shorts. Everyone, except for the women who can already hear the whispered disapproval of their bodies….continue reading…

Tuesday July 23, 2019                        By: Alexandra Kinias

In the streets of Cairo, stray dogs and cats often compete with the hungry homeless for scraps of food salvaged from the garbage, or for a spot to spend the night, let it be under a parked car, a construction site or a sidewalk. The phenomenon is not unique to the mega city, where many of its 18 million inhabitants live in expensive homes and mansions. However, what makes the picture gloomier in Cairo than elsewhere, is….continue reading…

Sunday July 14, 2019                   By: Manal Hany

BE KIND TO WOMEN

“Be Kind to Women” is the title of the graduation project of Fatma Mahmoud Raslan, 23, student at the Faculty of Fine Arts – Helwan University, Department of Mural Painting. The project is about combating violence against women and its negative impact on their mental, physical and emotional health. Fatma chose female genital mutilation (fgm) to be the subject of her graduation...continue reading…

Tuesday July 2, 2019                      By: Alexandra Kinias

Misogyny, practiced for thousands of years in patriarchal societies continues to spread in modern day Egypt and in other regions around the world where women are considered inferior to men, and treated as such. In Egypt, a country with male dominance, misogyny forms the foundation for the oppression of women. It perpetuates from one generation to the other as is evident …continue reading…

Tuesday June 25, 2019                      By: Sandra Magdy

MY NEVER-ENOUGH BEAUTY

Like many girls, I want to live like the olden dayswhere elegance, decorum, and clean streets were the norm. However, this is not the only reason why I want to live there, but also because in this era beauty standards were simply your own uniqueness. As I was scrolling through my newsfeed on…continue reading…

Saturday June 8, 2019                  By: Fatma Lotfi

In patriarchal societies, women have been occasionally urged by men to stay in the kitchen, with arguments that they are incapable of competing with them in the labor market, and thus they should focus on what they know best, cooking. Challenging such mentalities, and amid harsh economic conditions, some women chose to transform their cooking talents from daily housewives’ chores to a profession that generates income…continue reading…

Sunday June 2nd, 2019                     By: Dina Al Mahdy

Feminism is probably not what you think it is. The word – and the movement – have been distorted and warped in a million different directions. Feminism is not about crazy women who hate men and want to eliminate them all in order to run the planet. Each woman has her own thoughts about how she feels toward men, but leave feminism out of your problems…continue reading…

Sunday April 21, 2019                        By: Riham Adly

Girl, before your father implanted you in your mother’s womb, before being assigned your X’s and not the salubrious Y’s, you were in the water, in the air, in the elements: a tri-atom that didn’t belong to any tribe, any clan, any Kabilah. In your first incarnation: You were given the name Mary. You splashed in the mud and played with Abdullah and Abel….continue reading…

Monday March 4th, 2019                                 By: Alexandra Kinias

Since Queen Victoria appeared on the first adhesive postage stamp in 1840, portrait busts of rulers became standard of the early stamps. In contemporary times, countries continue to honor the distinguished members in their societies by featuring them on commemorative stamps, which are printed in limited quantities, and often sought after as collective items….continue reading…

Saturday February 9, 2019                         By: Farah Amr Desouky

Anyone who knows me knows what feminism is to me and how passionate I am about social justice generally, so admitting the negative effect being woke has lately had on me is definitely not easy. Doing good and advocacy has been my default for a long time, being critical about every single thing is important, but when is it too far that it transforms into a constant state of anger?…continue reading…

Wednesday February 6, 2019

The World Health Organization defines FGM as any procedure that involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The procedure [that is forced upon minors is performed with or without using anesthesia] is widely practiced and is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women…continue reading…

Wednesday January 16, 2019                         By: The Law Magazine

A dilemma takes place right after graduating law school, a prestigious study that requires a prestigious occupation as well which comes in a diversity of options for any law school graduate. However, this is not the same scenario for female law graduates. Due to the fact that a limited option of professions is available for females to settle on without even attempting to think about joining the most paramount councils in Egypt as judges. …continue reading…

Wednesday December 5, 2018                             By: Egyptian Streets 

While there are countless projects being done in Cairo and other cities in Egypt to help young women receive an education and work, there is still limited attention given to the bedouin women in Sinai. Due to unfortunate events, the Sinai peninsula has in recent years become a haven for terrorism and transnational crime, posing great threats to Egypt’s national security. Though what is missing from the discourse is human security – continue reading…

Friday November 30, 2018

Egyptian women gathered today in Cairo for an eight-kilometer run, the first official Marathon for Women and Girls in Egypt. The event was part of the 16-days of activism to combat violence against girls and women. It was organized by The National Council of Women (NCC), in cooperation with UNFPA, Cairo Runners, and the Ministry of Youth….continue reading…

Thursday November 29, 2018

On the morning of November 22, Asser Ahmed, 4-year-old, waited for his school bus in front of his family home in Nasr City, accompanied by his mother, aunt and grandmother. As the bus arrived, a car and two motorcycles intercepted it. To the horror of his family, by passers and other children on the bus, five gangsters carrying sharp weapons and sticks abducted Asser from his mother’s arms….continue reading….

Thursday November 15, 2018

The National Council of Women launched a media campaign in some of the central underground-metro stations in Cairo, including, Ataba, Ramses, Abbasiyah and Cairo University. The campaign, Your Life is Stations … Don’t Let a Station Stops You, which will run for three months, is among the NCW’s projects to end violence against women. The campaign is in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)….continue reading…

Thursday November 1, 2018        By: Photojournalist Mohamed Hakim

Mariam’s husband abandoned her seven years ago with no source of income. She had just given birth to her second son Karas, who is now in third grade. It wasn’t easy for the single mother in the conservative governorate of Minia in Upper Egypt to support her two sons. Inevitably, she sent her eldest son, Nour, who was just a child, to work in a carpenter shop. For five years, Nour was the breadwinner of the family.…continue reading…

Wednesday October 17, 2018          By: Egyptian Streets

When one thinks of an ’employed’ woman, it is often linked with modernity, industrialisation, and the urban world. The industrial developments that occurred in the West in the 19th and 20th century are commonly seen as the trigger in integrating woman into the workforce in modern times. While changes in society certainly impact the different ways a woman can work and support her family, it is important to realize that there were other women…continue reading…

Monday September 24, 2018                      By:  Egyptian Streets

“I felt like a whole new person,” says Amal, “and I am starting to love myself again. It is kind of like the difference between heaven and hell, and I am now in heaven.”

Egyptian women are often looked at from an angle that only selects the tragic side of their lives; they are presented to the world as feeble creatures that are under the oppression and control of many men...continue reading…

Sunday September 2, 2018                     By: Ingy ِEl Naggar

Sexual harassment is Egypt’s illegitimate child, born out of chaos. The phenomenon that had been around for a while, has escalated drastically in the last 7 years. Our long-lived misconception has constantly wronged the female or, worse, it urged people to look the other way. Thus, sweeping the whole problem under the rug, feeding the harassers’ ego and confidence and turning them into limitless monsters who think it’s not only okay, but it’s also their right to cat call, touch and shame girls on daily basis.… continue reading …

Saturday July 7, 2018                               By: Sara Mohamed

Like many women of her generation, Samia Medhat, a housekeeper for many New Cairo villas, says that while she is the breadwinner for the family, she has little control over the salary she receives.

Her husband, who “refuses to get off the couch”, demands she hands it over every month, keeping in line with societal norms which dictate that men are in charge of the family’s economic decisions. More importantly, however, when Medhat received her inheritance from her late father, her husband also took the money and used it for his own personal purposes.… continue reading …

Saturday June 8, 2018                               By: Alexandra Kinias

While most twelve years old girls go to bed dreaming of doll houses, ballet classes, crayons and scrapbooks, princesses in sequence dresses and tiaras, nightmares keep others awake in fear that the sunlight of the new day willsteal their childhood. In one of the most heinous crimes that are still committed to humanity, underage marriages are still practiced worldwide, Egypt included. … continue reading …

Friday June 1, 2018

“Can an ad campaign change attitudes towards Sexual Harassment in Egypt?” 

The short Egyptian film, The Campaign, by Egyptian-American director Jenny Montasir will be screened on Wednesday, June 6th at the Arab Film Festival organized by the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, MI. The Campaign will be paired with Tunisian feature film Beauty and the Dogs (Aala Kaf Ifrit). Montasir will also participate in a panel following the screenings to discuss sexual harassment and how to support transnational solidarity with movements like Me Too.… continue reading ….

Sunday April 29, 2018                            By: Nagwan El Deeb

In spite of the vast efforts by various organizations and human rights groups to empower women, a significant percentage of women around the world continue to suffer from objectification.Needless to say, in many cases, objectification starts at home.

Parental beliefs, cultural factors and the goals parents set for their children determine their parenting styles. These styles, if not channelled in the right direction, may in turn create lasting psychological effects on the children…. continue reading …

Monday April 22, 2018                By: Menerva Hammad

The Arabic term for spinsters is A’anes. It’s a despicable word, not to mention that it is an insult thrown in the face of unmarried women, especially when they reach their thirties.

Once women in Arab countries reach this age without getting married, it’s better to burry themselves in a faraway desert and pretend to be dead than live in the judgmental societies. Their surroundings will haunt them all the way until they get married… continue reading …

Saturday July 21, 2018                    By: May Allam

After stirring up controversy in the Egyptian society for being the first young women to file a paternity suit in 2005, Hind Elhinnawy shied away from the public life to raise her daughter. Leena Alfishawy, daughter of Elhinnawy and actor Ahmed Alfishawy was born out of an Urfi marriage, which Alfishawy denied after Elhinnawy got pregnant. Instead of having an abortion, the young mother-to-be defied the social norms of women in her situation and fought for her daughter’s right to live.  In an unprecedented step, she publicly took Alfishawy to court, but he refused a court ruling to undergo a DNA test to prove his paternity… continue reading … 

Tuesday March 27, 2018      By: Menerva Hammad

Samra is the term used to define a dark-skinned girl or woman in Arabic. We Egyptian girls, no matter where we grow up, we will learn that a fair skinned woman is beautiful and a samra is not. We will learn, that our naturally curly hair needs to be straightened, because otherwise it looks too messy, and girls with messy hair are not beautiful. We will be brainwashed that our dark eyes are less attractive, because blue, green and hazel eyes mesmerize people, but dark eyes simply don’t…. continue reading …

Thursday March 8, 2018              By: Jaylan El Shazly

The highly anticipated “She Can – 2018 ” conference took place on the first weekend in March at the Greek Campus, Downtown Cairo. The event brought together over 28 speakers and hundreds of women and men to showcase successful female entrepreneurs and listen to their experiences. Under the warm Cairo winter sun, a main stage was set up throughout the two days.  Entrepreneurs, artists, activists, and scientists delivered Ted-style presentations that focused primarily on their professional journeys and the challenges they encountered in their careers….. continue reading …..

Sunday February 11, 2018

On January 16th, 2018, Jomana Ismail and her team members embarked on the “Crossing Egypt Challenge”. The team of 4 young athletes crossed Egypt on foot from Aswan to Cairo in 23 days, to raise awareness on population growth. The challenge was sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Royal Norwegian Embassy, Ministry of Youth and other private companies…. continue reading ….

Saturday February 10, 2018

As communities thrive when women are economically empowered, it’s imperative to invest in women, not just because it is right, but because it is important and necessary for the growth of healthier societies. With this understanding in mind, Rania Ayman founded, Entreprenelle, a mission driven enterprise that strives to bridge the gender and economic gap. It also aims to empower women with the needed skills by educating, training and linking them to all the resources possible.… continue reading …

Sunday January 7, 2018.         By: Nagwan El-Deeb

It is shocking to learn that 87 percent of girls in Egypt are subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM), despite the efforts made by the government to fight this brutal violation of women’s bodies. A statistical report published in February 2016, ahead of the United Nations’ International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, stated that ‘’200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM in 30 countries; half of which live in only 3 countries – Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia’’… continue reading ..

Thursday December 14, 2017       By: Alexandra Kinias

A reporter once asked me, if I could have dinner with one Egyptian woman, dead or alive, who would it be? My instant response was Doria Shafik.

Doria died when I was 11-years-old. She ended her life by ‘plunging to her death’ out of her balcony at the age of 67. I never heard of her before her death, and I am ashamed to admit, I didn’t learn about her accomplishments until decades later… continue reading ….

Monday December 4, 2017     By: Alexandra Kinias

It was not uncommon when I was growing up in Alexandria, Egypt to hear loud screams screeching the stillness of the hot summer nights, when people opened their windows to the cool Mediterranean breeze. Chilling sounds of women pleading to their husbands to stop or calling for help pierced the neighborhoods. And by sunrise, perpetrators walked freely in the streets, as if nothing had happened, while the bruised faces you met, with eyes averted, were the only proof of the heinous crime committed against these women….continue reading .

Wednesday November 29, 2017      By: Menna Doubal

Body stamped with rainbow coloured bruises, dislocated shoulders, broken bones, battered souls, muted screams, silent cries, shattered voice and endless feelings of sorrow…

Since the beginning of time, women were considered unequal to men. They were viewed as slaves; properties. As a result, some men came to believe they have the right to control, manipulate, use and discipline them, in any way they see fit, …… continue reading …. 

Saturday November 25, 2017          By: Salma Hamed

“I’m Sorry. I’ll never do it again. I swear,” she frantically repeated as she backed into the kitchen corner, hands held up to protect her face.

“I’ll make sure you never do!”

The next day, Mona goes to work sporting a black eye, the makeup barely conceals it. No one at work asked her about it, they already knew. They whispered, they murmured and they gossiped, yet no one reached out to her. “It’s none of our business,” they said to themselves. “It’s a family dispute between a man and his wife.”….. continue reading ….

Thursday November 9, 2017              By: Rita Tadros

Women all over the world have proven they can succeed in different walks of life. Not only have they caught up with men on the educational level, but some women have also surpassed them. Additionally, women are venturing into male-dominated fields, and are leading influential political roles. However, and in spite of all their achievements, gender inequality at the workplace is still hard to break…. continue reading …..

Wednesday November 1, 2017
By: Nagwan El Deeb

“In order to liberate women, we need to liberate men’’. – Anne Hathaway

Over the past few years, women in Egypt have been facing a myriad of significant issues such as FGM, sexual violence, marital abuse, unjust laws, lack of education in many rural and urban areas and deprivation of inheritance. It was difficult to decide which to tackle first, considering that many of them are equally pressing…. continue … 

Sunday October 15, 2017
Written By: Farah Desouki

The problem with gender inequality is once you understand and notice it, it becomes impossible to ignore. This realization leaves you angry at society. As you hear it in everyday conversations with your parents, relatives, and friends, your anger escalates. You realize that the inequality and stereotypes were drilled into your head as well, since you were a little girl wearing pink clothes and playing with Barbie dolls. My anger at society led me to this conclusion….. continue reading …

Wednesday October 11, 2017
By: Menna Doubal

Millions of girls around the world are deprived from their basic rights. They live in continuous struggle because of their gender. They are considered inferior to males and treated as such; deprived from education, exposed to violence, sex exploitation and child marriages. To raise awareness and bring social justice to these girls, the UN, since 2012, marked October 11^th to celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child…. continue reading ..

Friday September 29, 2017
By: Nada Reda El-Kharbotly

No matter how advanced people think they are or how far the evolution of women’s rights has taken us, equal rights for both genders have yet to be achieved. The bold truth is that our society is sexist; most people still believe that men are stronger, smarter, and make better leaders than women. As a devout feminist, I find that shameful. I believe in equal opportunities, rights, and treatment for men and women because simply, it is not our sex that defines us, … continue reading …

Saturday September 9, 2017
By: Fayza Taha Yassin

Single mothers are often viewed by the society as culprits destroying their marriages and their children’s sense of family and stability. However, from experience, the opposite is true. Some single Moms actually choose to become single to save what is left of their mental health and stability and ….. continue reading 

Friday August 18, 2017
By: Jaylan El Shazly

With the soaring rates of sexual harassment in Egypt, Schirin Salem, together with her friend Emmeline Lavender, launched Igmadi (Be Strong) Initiative in 2014, to empower women to stand up against harassment through Zumba fitness and Wen-Do self-defense training. With the series of events they organized across Egypt, Igmadi has since grown into a full-blown phenomenon. In spite of growing up in Germany, Salem had always been aware of sexual harassment. She experienced it during her visits to Egypt….. continue reading …. 

Sunday August 6, 2017
By Yasmin Helal

The notion of achieving a work-life balance is truly flawed. It implies that work and life don’t meet. That life begins as work ends, which could never be true, regardless of what work really represents to us (a means to paying bills or a life purpose). Work is a part of life and a major one too, its impact reflects on most other aspects: on our health and wellbeing, financial security, and the time and energy we have for family and friends.

A few years ago, I became aware that a better and more realistic state to aspire to… continue reading ….

Thursday July 27, 2017
By: Jaylan El Shazly

Undeterred by the blazing July sun, some 200 women gathered at the Greater Cairo Library to participate in ‘She Can 2017’, an event organized by Entreprenelle. A mission driven enterprise that strives to empower local women economically, Enreprenelle organized this event to bring together women who push their limits and want to develop themselves as future leaders and entrepreneurs…. continue reading …

Saturday July 22, 2017
By Alexandra Kinias

While many  women her age dream of their prince charming, wedding gowns and nurseries, Hadia Abdel Fattah dreams of safer streets and workplaces for women, gender equality, and women empowerment. At the age of twenty-nine, she is a face of women advocacy. Her life, time and efforts are dedicated to various women issues. On top of her priorities is the fight against sexual harassment. As a woman who encountered sexual harassment at a young age, like most Egyptian women, it became personal ….continue reading ….

Saturday July 1, 2017
WOE Team

The number of Egyptian women marrying foreign men of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds is increasing, defying the social customs and traditions. In the cyber age, love is no longer restrained by geographical boundaries. Dating is made easier through social networks and dating sites. And with more women travelling abroad to study or to work, it became easier to meet the men of their dreams. Is it only love that attracts women to intercultural relationships, or is it also because women feel that foreign men treat them better than Middle Eastern men? …. continue reading ….

Friday June 23, 2017
By: Alexandra Kinias

Women empowerment is not a favorable subject of discussion in Middle Eastern countries, and women born and raised in these misogynist societies live in perpetual struggle to achieve tangible results.

Recently, I was asked by a young woman about Huda Shaarawi’s (1887 – 1947) accomplishments. What I first thought was a cynical question, turned out to be a real serious one. It was shocking to learn that …. continue reading …. 

Wednesday June 14, 2017
By: Alexandra Kinias

For thousands of years, the warm golden rays of the sun shined over the glorious Egyptian civilization that flourished on the banks of the river Nile. The Egyptians excelled in medicine, astronomy, architecture, agriculture and sciences, but what made their civilization phenomenal was that women were respected and cherished. Ancient Egyptian women enjoyed more rights and better status than their peers in the neighboring lands, and they enjoyed more rights than their contemporary daughters….. continue reading …. 

Saturday February 25, 2017
By Alexandra Kinias

All the women Gameela consulted, in Iman Refaat’s intriguing first novel, advised her not to destroy her marriage. “The shadow of a man is better than a shadow of a wall,” they told her. “For the sake of your children [don’t ask for a divorce]. You will be rejected. Women will avoid you in fear of stealing their husbands. You will disgrace your family, ruin your reputation. Men make mistakes,” they asserted her, “but a good woman is the one who protects her home and her family.” …. continue reading …. 

Saturday February 18, 2017
By: Nadeen El Fekky

At the age of six, I felt like a misfit. I didn’t wear dresses, nor did I buy the latest Barbie dolls. I was the first kid in the family and I always wished I had an older brother or cousin who’d play with cars and science kits with me. Being all alone, I felt like an outsider every time I tried mingling with girls my age, I wasn’t fond of tea parties or Disney princesses, so I hung around with boys and I even played football with them….. continue reading …

Thursday January 26, 2017
By: Alexandra Kinias –

Marriage is a partnership with shared responsibilities. But in Egypt, women’s share exceeds more than their partners’. Most Egyptian men, pampered and spoiled by their mothers, expect a wife’s role to be an extension of their mother’s, with benefits. So, while many proceed with their immature bachelor lifestyle, women take responsibility of the house and kids, and work a full time job. As the concept of family is distorted in the minds of many men, most women complain that their husbands rarely, if ever, help with the house chores or spend time with the kids….continue reading …. 

Monday December 12, 2016
Written by Alexandra Kinias

The nostalgia to the Sixties, the Egyptian golden era as labeled by historians, leaves many people reminiscing about its beauty and elegance that lives only in their memories. Perhaps what is missed mostly is the freedom to wear dresses inspired by Parisian fashion that women wore then and walk in harassment-free streets; an incomprehensible image to today’s generation who are not only subjected to this perpetual and demeaning phenomenon on daily basis, but also blamed for it…. continue reading ….

Sunday November 13, 2016
By: Amany Zayed

My dear daughter,
Today as we celebrate your 10^th birthday, an occasion even more special than the previous ones, I wrote you this letter to share some thoughts and feelings I couldn’t tell or show you before. Today marks the end of a phase in your life and the beginning of a new one. As tomorrow comes, you will be walking away from your childhood and taking your first steps towards adolescence. I have to admit how challenging it is to summarize ten years in few lines, so the best way to start is from the very beginning of me and you….. continue reading ….

October 21, 2016
By: Malak Sekaly

The first time I was told that I’d be ‘free’ when I’m married my mind tried to carefully wrap itself around the words coming through my ears. What did my mother mean when she said that I’d be free? Free to do what exactly? Free to speak my mind, wear the clothes I prefer, or free to exist as I already do? … continue reading ….