Washington, DC – In Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Tunisia and elsewhere, women have stood with men pushing for change. In Libya, Iman and Salwa Bagaighif are helping lead, shape and support protesters. And in Egypt, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, one of the oldest and most well-known non-governmental organisations in Egypt, estimated that at least 20 per cent of the protesters were women.
For example, the 26-year-old co-founder of Egypt’s April 6 Youth Movement, Asmaa Mahfouz, mobilised thousands of youth in support of the protest through her impassioned YouTube video. In Yemen, a 32-year-old mother of three, Tawakkul Karman, helped organise protests against the current government.
Yet women’s leadership in 2011 is not a new phenomenon. In Iran, women have for many years successfully pushed for greater freedom in personal status law, and greater employment and educational opportunities. Many Iranian women have been imprisoned simply for endorsing the Million Signature Campaign, which seeks equal rights and the repeal of laws that discriminate against women.
Read more at CG News
Meet Asmaa Mahfouz: the woman who organized Egypt’s historic demonstrations
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02/03/11 Update: the excerpts of the interview with Asmaa Mahfouz which aired on Al-Mihwar TV (Egypt) on January 31, 2011and were picked up and translated by MEMRI.
Asmaa Mahfouz is a small frame woman, who does not cut an intimidating figure. But looks are deceiving. Born in Egypt in 1984, she is a graduate of the business management school of the American University in Cairo. She’s 26 years old. She was mentioned yesterday, not by name, in an MSNBC report by Richard Engel. Curiosity drove me to find her.
Photo: ahlan.com
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