Happy Egyptian Woman's Day
In Egypt, the month of March marks an extended, joyous celebration of women. First comes 8 March, International Women's Day; close on its heels comes 16 March, Egyptian Woman's Day, followed by the day especially close to Egyptians' hearts: Mothers Day on 21 March.
Egyptian woman's day comes on 16 March, a date that was set to commemorate the first female demonstration ever in Egypt, when women left their homes and took to the streets to support the 1919 nationalist Revolution.
Led by the founders of the feminist movement in Egypt, Hoda Shaarawi; and Safiya Zaghloul, wife of Egypt's national leader Saad Zaghloul, some 300 Egyptian women took part in a national demonstration against the British occupation of Egypt; the young female demonstrator Hameida Khalil lost her life.
Given that those were days when women were, and had for long centuries been confined to their homes, never allowed in public, the event was in itself revolutionary. It heralded in a new age for women when they could honourably be in the public eye, building their country hand in hand with their fellowmen, and maturing into citizens with full citizenship rights—and duties.
Today, women are being actively empowered by the Egyptian State.
Painting by Wagdy Habashy
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