Inserting women’s rights in the Egyptian constitution: personal reflections

Abstract

This article focuses on women’s rights in the Egyptian constitution, in light of the Egyptian constitutional tradition, the history of Egyptian feminist activism and in the context of the Egyptian revolution. The discussion mostly relies on personal experience and involvement in the process of Egyptian feminist activism towards the inclusion of women’s rights in the Egyptian constitution – a process that started in May 2011. The essay is divided into two parts: the first part looks at the Egyptian feminist movement in the light of Egyptian constitutional history. The second part discusses the form and process of gendering the constitution, and focuses on three main issues: the concept of a constitution as social contract, feminist agency and feminist efforts to include women’s rights in the 2014 Constitution. As a feminist, my discussion here is grounded in a personal/historical perspective that seeks to establish a continuum of women’s history within national history.

Keywords:

• Egypt
• women
• revolution
• constitution
• feminism

Notes

1. This is a translation of a slogan chanted by women during the demonstrations held against the exclusionary and unrepresentative membership of the Constituent Assembly in 2012. All translations in the article from Arabic texts are mine.

2. Members of the core group include: Amina Elbendary, Hala Kamal and Maissan Hassan (Women and Memory Forum); Salma El-Naqqash and Yara Sallam (Nazra for Feminist Studies); Amani Khalil (Nadeem Center); Marwa Sharafeldin (specialist in Islamic legal studies); Sara Naguib Sedrak (political activist).

3. For instance, only three entries out of almost 500 citations deal with the Egyptian constitution in Mark Allen Peterson’s ‘Bibliography of the Egyptian Uprisings’ (posted on the website of his book Connected in Egypt: Growing Up Cosmopolitan in the Modern Middle East). Moreover, the three articles were published in the period 2011–2012 mostly addressing the expected challenges rather than the process itself.

4. Two Constitutional Assemblies were formed based on criteria including both elected and appointed members. The first Assembly included a vast Islamist majority – both elected and appointed. It was formed in March 2012, and then immediately disbanded by a court verdict in April 2012, based on the flawed membership criteria and election process. In June 2012, the second Constitutional Assembly was formed, including a slightly wider spectrum of representation, yet remained unrepresentative of the political, cultural, social and professional diversity characteristic of the Egyptian society. For more on the 2012 Constitution crisis, see Abdel-Mageed (2012).

5. I use the term Constitutional Assembly in reference to the early constitution-writing that produced the 2012 Constitution. Whereas I use the term Constitutional Committee in reference to the 50-member group in charge of constitutional amendments of the 2012 Constitution based on the revised document produced by the 10-member Constitutional Experts Committee. Although the notion of an elected Constitutional Assembly has been established in previous constitution-writing experiences worldwide (Fafard & Reid, 1991), the Egyptian term used for the current entity is lagna (committee). Hence, my use of the term Constitutional Committee.

6. For more on ‘state feminism’ in Egypt, see Hatem (1992), and Bier (2011) in the chapter entitled ‘Egyptian Women in Question: The Historical Roots of State Feminism’, pp. 23–59.

7. For an informative study on secular Egyptian feminist activism, see Al-Ali (2000).

8. In their contemporary reading of the Egyptian constitutional history, Farahat and Farahat (2011) offer a critical outline of this history by going back to the earliest constitutional documents issued by Mohammed Ali as early as the beginnings of the nineteenth century up till the process leading to the 2012 Constitution.

9. A translation into English of the 2012 Constitution was published in Egypt Independent on 2 December 2012. http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/egypt-s-draft-constitution-translated

10. A comprehensive booklet was published by Tahaluf al-munazzamaat al-niswiya (Coalition of Feminist Organisations) as part of the campaign to include women’s rights in the constitution, and appeared in September 2012 entitled Al mara’a wal-dostoor (Women & the Constitution), composed of three sections: a historical perspective; fieldwork and survey of women’s perceptions of their rights to be included in the constitution; and finally, the challenges facing Egyptian women and their aspirations.

11. Mona Zulficar was closely involved in the presidential process of establishing constitution membership criteria – the draft of which she had shared and discussed with the Coalition of Feminist Organisations in a meeting held at the New Woman Foundation on 21 July 2013.

12. For the complete text of the letter, see Kamal (2013), pp. 87–93.

13. Civil Rights in the Egyptian Constituion of 2013 (2014). Cairo: National Council for Women.