By Caroline Hawley in
Cairo
When it was published 100 years ago, the book entitled The
Liberation of Women caused uproar.
Its author - a judge called Qassem Amin - was the subject of a
torrent of criticism after arguing that improving the status of
women would help Egypt develop.
A century on, women have made many strides towards to his, and
their, goal.
![[ image: Egyptian women are an increasing presence in the workforce]](_483309_market_150.jpg) |
| Egyptian
women are an increasing presence in the workforce |
They can vote; they are significant part of the workforce and
there are now two women in the Egyptian cabinet.
But they're not allowed to travel abroad without the permission
of their husbands; it's hard for them to initiate divorce; and
they can't - like Qassem Amin - become judges.
Scholars from across the Arab world, as well as Europe and the
United States, have gathered in Cairo to discuss what's been
achieved.
'We haven't progressed'
Hoda Badran, one of the organisers of the commemoration
celebrations, says progress has now stalled.
![[ image: Egyptian women have a long way to go for true equality]](_483309_woman_150.jpg) |
| Egyptian
women have a long way to go for true equality |
"Yemen has judges, Sudan has judges; the general prosecutor
in Syria is a woman. If you compare us to other Arab countries, we
are behind. Other countries are going forward.
"Take Kuwait for example: Kuwait didn't have woman voting
or having political rights; they are having it now. So it's a
progress, even if we had our political rights as Egyptian woman
before. But we haven't progressed."
Earlier this year, there was a small step forward.
The Egyptian cabinet decided to cancel a law that allows a
rapist to walk free if he marries his victim.
But women activists say there's still a long way to go to
remove other discriminatory laws and achieve the liberation of
women.
