The focus of this research is the contemporary women's movement in Egypt. Historical aspects of the issue of women's rights in Egypt are also addressed, however, because the contemporary women's movement is an outgrowth of earlier efforts to promote the status of women, and because the current status of women's rights in Egypt is a manifestation of the interaction of modern and traditional values and events.
The women's movement in Egypt is frequently described within the context of phases (Khater and Nelson 465). This framework places the first phase of the Egyptian women's movement as the 1923-1939 period, with the second phase extending from 1940 through 1959, and the third and contemporary phase beginning in 1960 (Khater and Nelson 465). This structure is in many ways useful in the analysis of the Egyptian women's movement; however, acceptance of this frame of reference omits consideration of relevant events occurring prior to 1923.
Through Al-Nisaiyat in 1909, Malak Hifni Nasif, writing under the name Bahithat al-Badiya, "advocated improvement of women's lives, including new education and work opportunities, and the recuperation of lost freedoms understood to be granted by Islam" (Badran and Cooke xiv). Some Egyptian women of the day argued that Islam "guaranteed womens rights of which they had been deprived because of 'customs and traditions' imposed in the name of religion" (Badran and Cooke xvi). Some prominent Egyptian men "affirmed that these practices were not sanctioned by religion" (Badran and Cooke xvi). The advocates of enhanced rights for Egyptian women argued that through "the correct understanding and practice of Islam women could regain basic rights, and their families and societies would also benefit" (Badran and Cooke xvi).
Persistent and strong agitation for improvements in the status of women in Egypt continued over the next 14 years, and The Egyptian Feminist Union w...