1. Women of the Egyptian Revolution
By Jamila Boughelaf
1

2. Abstract
This article will look at the role played by women in the Egyptian
revolution. By providing the reader with a general overview on the socio-
political and economic background that created the basis of the protest,
we will then specifically explore and analyse to what extent new media
and technologies are enabling women in undertaking active engagement
in protesting and asking for their rights.
Specifically, great attention will be paid to the capacity of social media,
such as Twitter and Facebook, in remotely engaging communities, as well
as the psychological perception lying behind it. Indeed throughout this
paper, we are aiming to bring concrete testimonies of women who,
without being fully aware of it, played a crucial part in the revolution
through the use of mobile phones and social media.
I would personally like to thank Dr. Maha Azzam, Associate Fellow for the
Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, who kindly
accepted to support us in the development of this article through her
participation in an interview.
2

3. The revolution
2011- A year of revolution for Egypt. It started with mass demonstrations
against the Mubarak regime in January and it ended with further
demonstrations against the military forces in December 2011.
Socio-political restlessness and brittle economic conditions were
triggers for the mass demonstrations that took place. A huge
demographic rise, allied with a lack of employment opportunities for
young people and a constrictive political environment led to what Paul
Mason defined as “the graduate with no future” (The Guardian,
February 2011). Moreover, the decision by the Mubarak regime to
ostracise the Muslim Brotherhood and to torture and vilify the
opposition, led to growing resentment within Egypt. Allied to this,
Mubarak’s foreign policy positions, (in particular to the Israeli –
Palestinian issue), was completely out of tune with feelings in the
general population who felt that the resources of the State were acting
in the suppression of such points of view. The increased disillusionment
and distrust in a government described as corrupted and illegitimate
created amongst Egyptians the shared desire for social justice. Once
allied with social media opportunities, the mainstream media which was
controlled by Mubarak, simply did not know what it had slammed into
as demonstrations grew larger and larger in Tahrir Square. The following
comment sums up the position that many Egyptians felt:
“We were fed up to have somebody to tell us how we had to live” said
Ahdaf Soueif, a notable Egyptian author “not only the regime has been
messing with our economy and lives …but it has been messing with the
perception of ourselves, the texture of our society …those young people
have refused to become another lost generation” (NDTV).
These words not only expressed the sweeping change taking place
through Egypt, they also summed up a growing sense that young
3

4. people wanted more and they were simply not going to put up with the
restrictions that their parents had for over three generations.
It is interesting to note, however, the extent to which communication
and a strong shared ideology enabled individuals to promote personal
authority and erase barriers of age, class and gender whilst creating an
anti-corruption movement fighting for freedom. Our previous report-
entitled Mobile phones, social media and the Arab Spring - already
highlighted the fundamental role played by new technologies in
enabling both the organisation of revolutions throughout the Arab
world and the spread of information across the globe. In particular,
Facebook and Twitter, with respectively over 800 million and 350 million
users across the globe, became the latest source of information as well
as the major tool to initiate socio-political activism. According to the
third edition of the Arab Social Media Report (Dubai School of
Government) the total number of Facebook users in the Arab world -
about 36,016,664 in November 2011- has almost doubled since last year
and is increasing every day (ASMR, 2011, p. 12).
The research carried out by the Dubai School of Government also
highlighted that between January and November 2011 the number of
Facebook users across the Arab world increased by 68%. This massive
growth in social media users highlights people’s perception of social
media as one of the major components through which awareness can
be raised internally and externally to countries in turmoil. This
component led Hibaaq Osman, founder and CEO of the Egyptian women
organisation Karama (dignity), to state that “the best thing that
happened to people is social media” (DLD); the events in Tahrir Square
and in other countries like Tunisia have shown that social media
changed the modalities for social engagement in the Arab world and
became a new weapon for both, citizens and governments.
4

5. Women of the revolution
As many commentators have already emphasised, the Egyptian
upheaval allowed women to challenge fixed stereotypes and be equally
represented within the movement, simply by taking an active part in the
insurrections. Indeed, since the beginning of the protests, women
played a crucial part in the achieved outcomes and had an equal role in
the battle for freedom as - from the very first day - they took to the
streets and fought next to their male companions, sometimes leading
the demonstrations.
According to the internationally renowned Egyptian feminist Nawaal Al-
Sadawi, it should not be surprising to notice that women had a major
role in the battle for democracy. As Al-Sadawi states, “there could not be
democracy without women …There is no democratic revolution without
society. And women are society”.
As a matter of fact, the events of Tahrir Square, as well as others
throughout the Arab region, seemed to be erasing existing gender gaps
within Egyptian society and it gave women the opportunity to prove
their social strength on the streets, as well as their ability to organise
the movements. To this end, it is once again crucial emphasizing the role
played by social media and mobile software in enabling women’s
participation and empowerment within the revolutionary setting.
Although there is an existing gender gap in the usage of social media
within Egyptian society, it has been estimated that in April 2011 about
33.5% of Facebook users in the Arab world were female who
predominantly used these platforms to get news and information on
various issues. Furthermore, as the Arab Social Media report has
highlighted, although there is an existing gender gap, a larger
percentage of women who took part in their research stated that they
used social media to organise socio-political actions and supervise
activists (ASMR, 2011, p.8).
5

6. Throughout history, women have always been a major pillar in
catalysing revolutions. If we consider the Algerian fight for
independence in the sixties, it is clear that Algerian women, by
supporting and fighting next to their husbands, brothers or sons, hugely
contributed to the national victory over colonialism. Although women
participating in social freedom movements is not a new phenomenon,
the use of social media and mobile phones gave an unfamiliar
perspective to such revolutions and made citizens across the globe
aware of these “mothers of the revolution”.
The power of online female activism
Social media access among Egyptians was largely attributable to
government efforts in developing ICT capacities for socioeconomic
development (Hamdy, 2009). Like other leaders around the world,
Mubarak recognised the value embedded in communication and
technology for national development which meant that by February
2010, more that 21% of Egypt’s population had access to internet and
social media (International Journal of Communication, 2011).
Women’s on-line activity through online platforms massively increased
and generated online social activism in real time. As a matter of fact, by
the time the Jasmine revolution started in Tunisia, Egyptian activism was
In swing and women across Egypt had already set up blogs and
Facebook groups in support of their North African neighbour. The
scenario for mass demonstrations in Egypt had been set.
This example emphasises the fundamental strength of online activism:
transnationalism. In effect, social media, You Tube and online blogs
enabled both internal and international Egyptian activists (men and
women) to follow the events, engage in discussions and provide useful
and real time information. Hence, international connections was
certainly one of the outstanding features that enabled women to
strongly express their fierceness both online and offline. Additionally,
6

7. the connections with diaspora Egyptian communities who engaged with
media sources in Europe and the United States, meant that there was
consistent pressure put on the Mubarak regime and its slow media
responses from the very start of the uprisings in Egypt.
As Dr Maha Azzam - Associate Fellow for the Middle East and North
Africa Programme at Chatham House – stated, “social media created
increasingly politicized women and generated a flourishing number of
female leaders (of the revolution)”. For instance, the young Egyptian
graduate of Cairo University, Asmaa Mahfouz represents a model of
female online activism, having been presented as one of the major
initiators of the January 2011 protests. On January, 18th
Asmaa Mahfouz
posted a video on Youtube where she called for all Egyptian citizens to
ask for their rights against the Mubarak regime. The video went viral
and sparked a powerful online response, which was immediately
reflected in mass demonstrations on the ground. Asmaa Mahfouz, who
subsequently became one of the founders of the “April, 6th
Youth
Movement” is just one among hundreds of women to be pictured as
leader of the revolution.
The creation of the April, 6th
movement has indeed enabled thousands
of other women (nationally and internationally) to actively engage
through Twitter, Facebook or blogging, thereby spreading their voice
and their desire for human rights and social justice. In addition to that,
the creation of this movement also enabled a generational shift to
be fulfilled and women to become increasingly politically aware. In
fact, as already highlighted by Dr. Maha Azzam, the Egyptian revolution
has been made possible by the generational transformations that have
taken place in Egyptian society. The burgeoning growth of highly
educated and politically conscious men and women is at the heart of
the Egyptian social activism.
7

8. To quote Dr. Azzam:
“Social media and the internet have obviously empowered Egyptian
citizens, both men and women. Their role was limited in the streets;
therefore they found in those tools an independent channel of
communication. The Egyptian government has been imposing many
restrictions, among them it restricted the freedom of assembly…social
media have definitely been a reaction to what people have been denied”
This is where social media met generational changes. Whilst previous
generations of men and women in Egypt could not picture themselves
gathering against the powerful government and the military regime, in
2011 social media and technologies helped Egyptian youth to “break the
line of fear”.
As Dr. Azzam has several times emphasised, women did play a crucial
role in the Egyptian revolution. The question people are now asking
themselves is what sort of a future are these women going to have and
to what extent has the revolution empowered them? It seems that in
revolutionary scenarios, women held the line and were at the helm of
the change, though post-revolution, their voices seem to have taken a
back seat as political power shifts in Egypt have taken place without any
real shift in the higher echelons of the Government.
As the economist Haifa El-Kelani stated “Women have supported the Arab
Spring…will the Arab Spring support women?”
Leaders for a social change
Although the Arab Social Media Report has declared that more men
(65%) than women (62%) believe that social media can be used for the
political empowerment of women, a fresh generation of Egyptian
women is currently engaging in the development of social media as a
major platform to fight gender discrimination and violence against
women. Since the fall of Mubarak’s regime, Egyptian women have been
8

9. the victim of public discrimination and sexual harassment which has
manifested itself as attacks on the streets.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report,
Egypt has been reported to be amongst the countries with the lowest
rank related to gender equality (125th
out of 134 countries, Global Gender
Gap Index, 2010). The report, which has been addressing sexual
harassment, discrimination at work and violence against women, has
also emphasised the existing growing gap in political participation.
According to this report, over the past five years Egypt has had only
two women representatives in the Egyptian Parliament and no more
than 16 women in ministerial or senior management positions in
government (at any given time). Even in post-Mubarak Egypt, where
free elections were looked upon as of being of paramount importance
to implement the fair representation of women and their needs in the
Parliament, the number of female parliamentarians elected has not yet
significantly increased. Only nine out of the newly elected 498
parliamentarians are women.
An article recently published by the Cable News Network (CNN) aimed
to highlight the eight most influential women of the Arab Spring. It
reported that one of the most popular Egyptian bloggers, Dalia Zaida,
conducted an informal poll amongst 1,400 people across Cairo before
the elections. Zaida identified that not a single individual (either man or
woman) would vote for a female candidate in presidential elections.
Despite women’s enthusiasm and engagement in the streets of Cairo,
one of the major hurdles to clear in Egyptian society is women’s
reluctance to take an active part in the political process. It is indeed
when women become involved in public life that male-dominated
stereotypes will be challenged and transformed.
Even with these obstacles, women like Maha Azzam are still optimistic
and believe that the condition of Egyptian women in social and political
9

10. life can be transformed and improved. Dr. Azzam recognises the
challenges undermining Egyptian society; however she acknowledges
that there are ways to counter certain drawbacks: “the Arab Spring
provided women with greater tools to improve their position; however it
is important that they do not give up”. Women have already taken to the
streets to safeguard the freedom of their country; hence they must now
raise their voice again for the respect of their own rights. “Egyptian
women should continue their fight through the creation of a well-
coordinated and united movement”.
The blogger activist Dalia Ziada seems to share Dr. Azzam’s perceptive
and says:
“The biggest challenge facing women is how they see themselves and their
role in the political, economic, and social changes going on around them
[…] the spring cannot come without flowers. And women are the flowers
of the Arab Spring, but if they do not appreciate their own value and
societies fail to include them in democratic transformation, the end will
not be nice."
According to Maha Azzam, women should start lobbying their
politicians through the simple tool of voting. Achieving free elections in
Egypt is indeed the greatest tool women could gain to change their
future. “They have been given the right to vote, which is one of the
greatest tool” she said “but deciding not to use their vote is also a
powerful and influential weapon”. She continues “women should refuse
their votes to politicians, unless they agree to implement policies in the
respect and protection of women’s rights. When politicians realise they
cannot obtain the vote of those hundreds and hundreds of women, they
will respond to their demands”.
Dr. Azzam truly believes this to be possible, hence calls for women to
push forward their voice in society and bring about further results to the
Arab Spring in order to impact on the creation of a more open
political system.
10

11. This will allow women to freely participate in democracy, socio-
political life and civic engagement. The key for this change, according to
Maha Azzam and Haifa El-Kelani, evidently lies in education and
awareness.
Recently, hundreds of women from across the MENA region met in
Egypt to discuss the role that new technologies and the internet could
play in protecting women’s interests and in supporting them to
achieve their goals in the region. The Egyptian-American public speaker
Mona Eltahaway, who chaired the conference, shared her testimony
and her experiences of the Egyptian revolution, including the assaults
she received at the hands of the soldiers. Her contribution to the event
helped to highlight the importance of communication and inter-
connection in protecting women’s role in society. As she noted, "The
most revolutionary thing a woman can do is share her experience as if it
matters".
Women’s rights cannot be created by new technologies, yet they can be
spread and supported through them. New technology can certainly be a
driver to increase levels of education, knowledge and awareness among
women.
Organisations such as Faith Matters, FrontlineSMS and TextToChange
have on several occasions shown the impact of SMS in influencing
behavioral change of people in areas such as such as South East Asia,
Africa or South America. SMS could therefore have a great impact on
mobilising women in Egypt, a country where communities have already
started to create change on a local level. At the very least, technologies
can disseminate these messages of change faster and in real time.
11

12. Bibliography
Arab Media Influence Report – AMIR 2011, Social Media and the Arab
Spring, March 2011
Eltantawy, N., Wiest, J., B., Social Media in the Egyptian Revolution:
Reconsidering Resource Mobilisation Theory, International Journal of
Communication 5 (2011), Feature 1207–1224
Egypt in Transation: The Media’s Role in Politics, Chatham House, Middle
East and North Africa Programme Workshop Summary, June 2011
Egyipt’s Economy in the Transational Period, Chatham House, Middle
East and North Africa Programme: Egypt Dialogue Workshop Report,
September 2011
Hamdy, N. (2009). Arab citizen journalism in action: Challenging
mainstream media, authorities and media laws. Westminster Papers in
Communication and Culture, 6(1), 92–112.
Sabadello, M., The Role of New Media for the Democratization Process
in the Arab World, 2011
The Role of Social Media in Arab Women’s Empowerment, Arab Social
Media Report, Vol.1, No. 3, November 2011, Dubai School of Government
Newspapers and Websites
AlJazeera, Riz Khan interview to Nawaal el-Sadawi, Mother of the
Revolution, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-tTg7iJo0M
BBC News, Egypt Unrest: Women protest against army violence, 20 December
2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16267436
12

13. CNN, Women and the Arab uprisings: 8 agents of change to follow,
February 3, 2012,http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/03/world/africa/women-
arab-uprisings/index.html
DLD, interview to Hibaaq Osman, “The best thing that happened to the
people- Social Media!”, July 2012, http://www.dld-
conference.com/news/social-politics/hibaaq-osman-the-best-thing-that-
happened-to-the-people-social-media_aid_2792.html
Foreign Policy, Has Egypt’s Revolution left women behind? December 8
2011,http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/12/08/has_egypts_revolution
_left_women_behind
Human Rights First, Staying Connected: Egyptian Women Use Social
Media to Combat Gender Inequality, Violence, August 17, 2011,
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/2011/08/17/staying-connected-egyptian-
women-use-social-media-to-combat-gender-iequality-violence/
Marketplace, Egyptian women try to redefine their role after revolution,
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/new-egypt/egyptian-women-
try-redefine-their-role-after-revolution
NDTV, The Women of Tahrir Square, February 13, 2011,
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/documentary-24x7/the-women-of-tahrir-
square/190873
The Guardian, What Caused the Revolution in Egypt?, February 17, 2011,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-
matters/2011/feb/17/what-caused-egyptian-revolution
Personal interviews
Personal interview with Dr. Maha Azzam, Associate Fellow for the
Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.
13