Do Egyptian women want equality?

By: Kaitlyn Marshall
Edited by: Erica King

Egyptian women

Debates about women’s issues and what a woman’s place is in the world are commonplace around the world today. The debate that continues in Egypt about the true place of a woman is one that has been going on for years, with no real answer in sight.

           

Enas El Masry is a 24-year-old woman living in Cairo, she has lived there her entire life. She studied at Cairo University and now works as a freelance journalist, traveling in and around Cairo for her work. Her work requires her to travel mainly by herself, a practice atypical for a woman of the region. Some women think she should be married by now, but she has never felt that pressure mainly because of how understanding her parents have been.

           

“My parents are exceptionally cool,” El Masry said, “ I was born on the luckier end of society not too much freedom, but not too much restraint.”

           

The influence of the family is being seen as having more of an impact on how Egyptian women act in their everyday lives. Xousa, a 20-year-old Egyptian male student at the International University in New Cairo said “the family most of the time chooses the path for the infants,” He said, “and are very involved in a female's life.”

           

Parental involvement can sometimes pressure women to assimilate into more traditional roles, but it can also push them to pursue roles outside of the home. El Masry is aware of the situation she was born into. “It isn’t easy to be a woman in Egypt.” She said, but “women are strong in Egyptian culture.”

           

The growing desires of women, especially young, college-educated women, to branch out beyond their parents’ homes is becoming more of an attainable goal than it was for generations before. Young, educated women are branching out and older women are encouraging them to do so.

Family plays a large role in how women perceive themselves, however they can’t completely escape the pressures of society. Egyptian scholar Yasmin Gamal, finds that religion still plays a huge role in society and influences the role that women are taking in their homes and in society.

“There is also the religious aspect with imams and preachers telling women that they play second fiddle to their men and that their number one job is to marry,” she said.

           

Religion is not completely out of the equation when it comes to the role women are playing in society. As El Masry puts it, society and religion are very intertwined within Egypt saying, “it’s hard to see where society ends and religion begins.”

           

These stereotypes, Gamal said, seems to transcend class lines however, “Women want better for themselves but still seem to be their worst enemies,” Gamal said, “and are not supportive of other women.”

El Masry is just one of many women from numerous backgrounds who are looking at their futures in a nontraditional way. Gamal did a study on the changing way that women living in Egypt think of themselves. She found that younger women between ages 25 and 40 are not caught up in traditional ways of thinking about the place of women in Egyptian society.

“It is still not easy for a woman to leave her parents house and live alone before marriage or travel abroad to pursue a career,” Gamal said. “Constraints like these keep a lot of women stuck or desperate for a way out by the means of marriage.”

           

Recently, three women were appointed to positions in the Egyptian parliament marking a shift in the political make up of the country. However, the question then arises, is this representation enough to make a difference in governmental policies within Egypt as it pertains to women. Ghada Waly, Nabila Makram, and Sahar Nasr all hold positions on the Egyptian parliament, and citizens like Miriam El Touny think this is nowhere near enough.

“The women ministers are 9% only of the cabinet, which is not a good representation of the role women play in our society,” El Touny said.

           

This is a shared sentiment by Loai Alaa an Egyptian resident who also has found that the number of female participants in government is not where it should be.

“The number of women that are joining the next parliamentary race is very low by any standard,” Alaa said. “Most of the older people I talk with find women incapable of being a good representative, the same goes if a woman is to be elected as a president.”

           

Women are looking for ways to advance outside of marriage and that may be difficult without changes in government and the societal make up of the country as a whole.

Sama Al-Masry, a belly dancer who wanted to be a part of the next Egyptian Parliament, was turned down after a higher court questioned her ethics. This is commonplace for women who have a desire to be a part of the government that has control over their lives.

However, women are looking to gain control of their lives not only through government, but through how they conduct themselves. The younger generation of Egyptian women is finding what makes it happy regardless of tradition and is finally being encouraged to pursue their goals.

“Nobody wants to be handcuffed, especially if you know that you’re handcuffed.” El Masry said. “I think the problem maybe rises more when you don’t know that you’re handcuffed and you don’t know what lies beyond your limitations.”   

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Kyrgyzstan’s Kloop media talk about controversial coverage

By: Samantha Peko 

Edited by: Erica King 

“Aspiring Central Asian journalists face steep challenges. In addition to censorship and political interference, many journalists lack the basic skills necessary to produce high-quality stories,” began an article on May 3, 2012 by the Eurasia Foundation.

The Eurasian Foundation, Kloop’s partner, is a U.S. based organization. Founded in 1992, the organization operates in every country in the former Soviet Union.  The Eurasian Foundation of Central Asia, created in 2005, has invested more than $40 million in Central Asia community development projects, according to their website. 

Kloop, which began in 2007, is currently one of Kyrgyzstan’s largest media organizations. Students ages 12 and up come from different Kyrgyzstan regions to study journalism in Bishkek. Student coverages are posted on Kloop’s website daily. Many students are also credited parliament reporters.

“After one year writing about society, crime and culture, I decided to be a parliament correspondent and write news about politics,” said Kloop graduate, Nurjamal Djanibekova.

Kloopers

Azat Ruziev is a video reporter for Kloop. He came to Bishkek from a small town in the North-Eastern region of Kyrgyzstan called Karakol. He said he applied just to get out of Karakol and see the capitol city, Bishkek. He was 14 years old. At the age of 17 he was a credited Kyrgyzstan parliament reporter for Kloop.

“My experience as a parliament reporter had a great impact on me. I started to understand what and how the laws can be written. I started to mention some small things about laws in my writing. These small things might change the lives of thousands but weren’t very clear.”

In just a few months of joining Kloop, Ulugbek Akishev was covering a political uprising. He was only 17.

“It was the end of March 2010 when opposition started demonstrations against the regime of President Kurmanbek Bakiyey,” he said. He mentioned that his mother worked with a lot of politicians and his grandfather was a diplomat for 20 years, so he knew a lot of inside information.

This was the second Kyrgyz Revolution. President Bakiyey was ousted in June. Then ethnic tension involving Kyrgyz people and Uzbeks in the south of the country escalated. Approximately 500 people were killed during the turmoil to gain political control.

“It was dangerous and I feared the marauders and rebels armed with guns.  Of course, we didn’t know what would happen the next day, but we never stopped the coverage,” he said. 

On Political Coverage

“Kloop has made many enemies over the years by exposing official corruption and providing regular coverage of Kyrgyzstan’s beleaguered LGBT community, which many other outlets ignore completely,” said an article published on December 15, 2014 on eurasianet.org.

When asked if covering politics is difficult Eldiyar Arykbaev, Kloop’s editor-in-chief explained that students are told to be watchful. 

“Know your environment—is the main advice. Be careful with your words—is second.”

Arykbaev said that students are told to monitor high-officials’ public activity closely and what they say regarding issues.

“If you know them well, you can build a behavior pattern for that politician,” he said. “You can easily make a strategy plan on how to interview the official and make him answer tough questions while keeping a peaceful atmosphere.”

On LGBT

            But in the upcoming months Kyrgyzstan’s media will face another challenge. A bill adopted from Russia dubbed the “anti-gay propaganda bill” could potentially imprison journalists for up to a year for covering LGBT issues.

“The bill would directly and negatively affect media coverage of LGBT issues in Kyrgyzstan, given that the draft, if adopted, would provide criminal and administrative sanctions against individuals who are found to disseminate information that promotes “non-traditional sexual relations” in a “positive” way. It would apply to the press, television, radio and the Internet – a clear violation of freedom of expression,” said Mihra Rittmann who is the Central Asian representative for Human Rights Watch.

The issue is the wording of the bill.

“There are two questions – what is “propaganda” and what is a “non-traditional sexual relationships?” Arykbaev asked.  “I think the bill is written for selective use – to silence who will go against the major power and is out of the “traditional understanding,” he said.

One of the founders of Kloop, Bektour Iskender has publicly called this a fascist law.

“This is the case when I had to unfortunately turn from a journalist into an activist. I say "unfortunately" because journalists should not be the ones, but I am afraid I am one of the very few open opponents of the bill, and if I am silent, then there is almost no opposition to this bill at all,” he said.

Iskender explained that one of the first stories that Kloop has covered LGBT issues since 2007. The first article uncovered police abuse on the transgender community.

“We’ve been labeled as "main gay propagandists" of Kyrgyzstan by a far-right antigay group called Kalys on a protest in Bishkek in March 2014. This is an honor for me, although I don't believe that gay “propaganda” exists at all,” he said.

Kloop intends to continue its coverage despite harsh consequences.

 “Its vague definitions means that, if adopted, the bill can be used about any journalist and activist who authorities don't like. Kloop is, I assume, on this list. I will deliberately violate this law if it is adopted. It contradicts the Constitution of Kyrgyzstan, which guarantees freedom of speech, and that will be my argument in the court, because Constitution is much higher in its status than any other law,” Iskender said.

News Editor Anna Lelik also intends to continue her reporting.

“Unfortunately, during the last two years Kyrgyzstan became famous for its anti-gay propaganda bill (almost copy and pasted from Russian legislation) and rising homophobic mood especially among conservative nationalist groups. Kloop is often criticized by these groups, considered LGBT advocates and sometimes our journalists were even verbally attacked. We always cover the story from both sides and never ignore the facts of violations of human rights in Kyrgyzstan, including LGBT community,” she said.

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