Egyptian Women Use Social Media to Test Roles
CAIRO—A rapidly growing private Facebook forum in Egypt with over 45,000 members allows women in one of the Arab world’s most restrictive societies to open up about topics that remain taboo.
The invitation-only group, “Confessions of a Married Woman,” provides an outlet to ask sensitive questions about sex and vent about the everyday challenges Egyptian women face.
The group’s popularity is a sign that some women want greater freedom and, at least in 
private, buck conventional views of their social roles. They are using social media to combat problems such as sexual harassment, which has become more pervasive since the 2011 revolution.
“Women are now more powerful and are not willing to accept traditional ideas,” said Zeinab al-Ashry, the group’s founder.
The forum started two years ago and picked up about 3,000 members in its first year, Ms. Ashry said. It has expanded over the past year as members invited friends to join, even though women’s access to social media is limited in Egypt as they make up a disproportionately large share of the unemployed and illiterate.
A 2015 report from the World Economic Forum on gender equality ranked Egypt 136th out of 145 countries, below Saudi Arabia, where women aren't allowed to drive. Women face harassment, violence and divorce laws that force them to either give up financial rights or go through a costly legal process to prove they were subjected to abuse. Families in poor regions commonly marry off young girls to wealthy men from the Persian Gulf.
Roughly one out of every six Egyptian women was subjected to violence in 2015, according to a recent study by Egypt’s statistical center. Only 75,000 sought action through official institutions, it said.
A social media campaign, along with global pressure, led to the passage of the country’s first law to criminalize sexual harassment in 2014. Some women use their Facebook pages to post photos of men they accuse of sexually harassing them.
The death in May of a 17-year-old girl during a genital mutilation procedure in a hospital in the Egyptian city of Suez sparked an uproar on Twitter. The hospital was shut down and an investigation was launched, as the government banned the practice in 2008, though it remains common.
In recent years, Egyptian women have tried to challenge social rules. Many are removing their head scarves. A number have taken jobs that were once exclusive to men, such as cabdrivers, mechanics and pilots.
In the “Confessions” Facebook group, women complain of nabbing cheating husbands and tell of love triangles or of confronting an overbearing father or husband. Sexual harassment, domestic violence and female genital mutilation are all discussed.
The group shields the identities of those who share their stories and it wasn't possible to verify the content of posts.
One woman posted that she is in love with her abusive husband and sought advice on whether she should stay. Hundreds replied unanimously that she should leave. No one counseled the traditional course of hanging on in the hope he would change.
Some of the topics are lighter, though still too sensitive to be discussed in public.
One young woman asked if anyone was aware of foods that could be an aphrodisiac for her man. The replies ran the gamut from arugula to chocolate. Another suggestion was fat-free: “Sexy lingerie has no calories!”
Ms. Ashry said she formed the group to bring together friends who can help each other with questions they are too embarrassed to ask face-to-face.
She didn’t expect thousands of requests to join the community. She attributed the interest to recent political and social changes and the power of Facebook.
A member of the Facebook group recounted how she was initially confident in her decision to leave an unhappy marriage. But under pressure from her family—and under the weight of a society that doesn’t look kindly on divorced women—she is wavering. So she posed the question to the group: “Am I being selfish?”
Dozens rushed to support her. “You are far from selfish,” one reply said. “You are strong to stand your ground. It’s so refreshing to hear stories like this because it gives me hope that soon this ignorant mentality will fade away.”
By Dahlia Kholaif, Wall Street Journal. July 11 2016. Link: <http://www.wsj.com/articles/egyptian-women-use-social-media-to-test-roles-1468277958>
Photo by Eman Helal