Who will be getting Egyptian women’s vote?

If the packed campaign rallies and popularity of televised debates are anything to go by, the turnout for Egypt‘s presidential elections on Wednesday and Thursday will put the UK to shame.

Egyptians had become used to rigged votes and no political alternatives under Hosni Mubarak and now have the choice of 12 candidates to lead their recently elected parliament. Opinion polls have thrown up varied results and no individual is predicted to win over 50 per cent of the vote, meaning that a second round of voting in June is likely.

After the revolution, there was a small moment for absolute democracy – for women, minority groups, Christians – everyone could participate. Because of the military takeover, democracy very soon shifted to a centralised, military-led, patriarchal reign. Heba Morayef, Human Rights Watch

The four front-runners [see below] alone represent a spectrum of political opinion, from a conservative Islamist to former figures in the Mubarak regime. But despite the diversity, there are no women candidates after the only female representative, Bothaina Kamel, failed to gather enough support to qualify. And while women played a crucial role in Egypt’s Arab Spring, rallying support for democratic freedom and pushing for change on the streets and online, it became apparent as the crowds dispersed and Mubarak fell, that progress for women’s rights – and for many Egyptians – would not come about overnight.

A ‘patriarchal’ reign

“After the revolution, there was a small moment for absolute democracy – for women, minority groups, Christians – everyone could participate,” Heba Morayef, chief Egypt researcher for Human Rights Watch, told Channel 4 News. “Because of the military takeover, democracy very soon shifted to a centralised, military-led, patriarchal reign over last 15 months.”

Women in Egypt have historically battled against discrimination. The widespread practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) has been illegal in Egypt since 2007, but around 90 percent of women aged 15 to 49 are thought to have had their genitals cut.

In a 2008 survey by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), more than 80 per cent of Egyptian women said they had been subject to sexual harassment, while more than 60 per cent of men admitted to having harassed women.

Spike in violence against women

So has this improved since the revolution? The ECWR doesn’t think so. “Women actively participated in the 25 January revolution in order to make sure that they will have a better future, but what happened was the opposite,” Ereny Zarif from the ECWR told Channel 4 News. “Nowadays, there are calls in Egypt to retain the status that women had hundreds of years ago. Some fundamentalist groups are seeking to change it [the law] to make women stay at home and minimise her role in the society.”

Women actively participated in the revolution in order to make sure that they will have a better future, but what happened was the opposite. Nowadays, there are calls in Egypt to retain the status that women had hundreds of years ago. Ereny Zarif, ECWR

After the revolution, Human Rights Watch identified a spike in violence against women by the military, who used sexual harassment as a means of control. Dozens of female protestors were subject to ‘virginity tests’ after being removed from Tahrir Square protests by the military authorities, who are currently in interim control of the country.

Read more: Egypt’s revolution one year on

Women MPs: two per cent

In terms of politics, just nine MPs in Egypt’s new parliament are women (two per cent of parliament) despite the 984 women who ran for seats after Mubarak’s 12 per cent minimum quota for women was scrapped.

Only last week, one Salifi MP, a member of the second largest party, renewed calls for the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) to be decriminalised, and decreasing the minimum age for women to marry has also been proposed.

“The rise of Islamists is one of the main challenges [for women] due to the continuous calls to change the laws that are in favour of women claiming that they are the remnants of the past regime,” said Ms Zarif. “Women are at risk of being marginalised and excluded from the political sphere.”

Disillusioned?

In the last days of campaigning, some of the presidential candidates increased attempts to appeal to women. The moderate Islamist candidate Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, who has a female political advisor, even held a rally just for women. But women’s rights campaigners are not convinced that women will benefit from Egypt’s new democracy any time soon.

“Many people, not just women, are disillusioned by the fact that revolution did not bring about immediate change,” said Ms Morayef, who believes that the popularity of Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force commander appointed as prime minister just before and after Mubarak was overthrown, shows a desire to return to the days of the former regime.

“The story, sadly, is common – if you were to look at situation for Coptic Christians, or other minority groups, you may get similar stories, said Ms Morayef.

“But for women, we’re talking about half the population – it’s not a minority.”