Egypt's women remain central to anti-government movement (Feature)

By Yasmin El-Rifae and Gregor Mayer Feb 8, 2011, 15:44 GMT

Cairo - Marching, chanting and breaking down security barricades throughout Cairo, women have been active participants in the anti-government protests that have shaken Egypt for two weeks.

As Tahrir Square became the focal point of the demonstrations and saw several eruptions of violence between protesters and pro- government groups, women also turned up to distribute food and provide medical assistance to the thousands of people there.

Sherifa Aboulfotouh, a medical nutritionist, has handed out food, drinks and other supplies.

'I support the protests and I believe they will achieve political changes. That's why I'm here to help make sure people have what they need to continue,' she told the German Press Agency dpa.

With only a few shops and restaurants open nearby, many protesters have been relying on donated food. People from around the city have been arriving in Tahrir with boxes of water and bags of biscuits and bread to pass around.

'There is a change in people's attitudes. Now people who have enough food will not take more from us, and will ask us to find those who are more in need - instead of just taking what they can,' Aboulfotouh said.

Hend Ahmed, a dentistry student doing her residency at the nearby Kasr al-Ainy hospital, has been helping out at a makeshift clinic in the square.

'We got a lot of people coming in with head injuries, bullet wounds and stab wounds to the abdomen and the back,' she said.

'We are not equipped to give them general anesthesia, but we provide local anesthetics and painkillers and treat wounds as best we can,' she added.

The clinic consists of a dozen beds made of blankets piled on the floor, partitions of cloth or plastic strung from rope, and a pharmacy area where people scrambled to organize hundreds of medicine packages.

'I assist the doctors here by preparing the necessary medicines and supplies for cases as they come in, and by caring for the patients by making them comfortable with blankets and so on,' Ahmed said.

She noted that she had not been 'very politicized' before spending time at Tahrir.

'I came because I heard there were a lot of people getting hurt, and I think people should help in whatever way their background enables them to,' she said. 'After being here and talking with the protesters, I support their political cause and I think they should continue until Mubarak steps down.'

Women could be seen everywhere in the square, with many demonstrating, carrying flags and taking part in political debates.

'I am here for the first time today. I will be coming back and I will bring my children to see this and to know that there are people who are dying for change in this country,' said Doaa Farouk, a primary school teacher carrying a sign reading 'Egyptian people are fighters and they are unbeatable'.

'We heard so many lies in the media, such as that the violence is widespread in Tahrir, and that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken over the protests, but now I see that it is not true,' she added.

Marwa, a nursery school teacher who did not provide her last name, stood with some 200 women of all ages who chanted for the downfall of the regime. She wore a veil covering her hair.

'I cover my body and support gender segregation during the protests, not as an Islamist statement, but because it is not right for men and women to have physical contact,' she said.

Some women have been spending nights in tents or in the open air, refusing to leave the square even as relatives begged them to come home when violence broke out.

A poster with the picture of a smiling young woman hangs in the square among several others featuring photographs of men with severe head injuries. Each poster bears the name of the person - referred to as a martyr - and a line about how he or she died.

The young woman's name was Sally Zahran. The poster said she lost her life due to a brain injury sustained during clashes between the protesters and pro-government groups last week.

'People have died for this cause. We can't go home, and we are safer here than if we leave the square and are arrested by this brutal government,' a protester who identified herself only as Reem said.

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