Egyptian women in golden age after Brotherhood rule

Muslim Brotherhood is a secretive organization and parts of it – globally – have a highly ambiguous relationship with violent extremism. Egypt has designated the group a terrorist organization.

Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi was elected in the wake of the 2011 revolution,  billing himself as a modernizer. Yet the country's economy went in deep crisis and its foreign debt has tripled since 2012. Morsi was ousted in 2013 amid mass protests against his divisive one year of rule.

According to the fifth periodic report of Egypt submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the percentage of women in Parliament declined to 2% after If it was 12%, prior to 2012.

Under the Muslim Brotherhood president, some of the very first demands strongly voiced in Parliament was to amend the personal status laws by reducing the age of custody and the age of marriage in a way that enhances child marriage. The history of Egyptian women's struggle was obliterated in school curricula.

Egypt is the first country in the world to launch a national strategy for women’s empowerment in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. This strategy consists of four main axes, foremost of which is political empowerment and leadership.

The percentage of women in the cabinet increased from 6% in 2015, to 20% in 2017, and then to 25% in 2018. Eight female ministers are responsible for important ministries, which is the highest representation ever for women in the cabinet.

Egypt ranked second in the Middle East and North Africa in terms of women's representation in the Cabinet in 2021. Moreover, women occupied certain positions in the judiciary for the first time ever.