History book has again appreciated in Egypt as Radwa Helmi has become the first female judge to preside over a case in the nation’s highest court.
It is imperative to note that Radwa Helmi was one of 98 women appointed last year to sit on the bench of the State Council in Cairo— one of the main judicial bodies in the country of 106 million.
The landmark decision was made in March last year by Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who had urged his Justice Minister, Omar Marwan to coordinate with the leaders of the Supreme Judicial Council and the State Council to ensure that female judges were elected to work across the courts.
Reacting to the development then, the vice president of the State Council, Taha Karsoua called the move “a dear gift for women in Egypt.”
Speaking with newsmen over Helmi’s feat, the head of the National Council for Women (NCW), Maya Morsi averred that the day marks a momentous occasion for women in the country.
She said “The fifth of March has become a new historical day for Egyptian women,” adding that “The dreams of earlier generations of women finally come true.”
Official records have it that in Egypt, female judges make up only 0.5 percent of all judges in the country. Roughly 25 percent of cabinet posts in parliament are held by women.
It would be recalled that when the current president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, assumed office in 2014, he consistently declared his support for women, though critics are quick to point out that Al-Sisi’s feminist stance is perhaps “…more of a strategy to harness women’s support against the Muslim Brotherhood than a genuine commitment to gender equality.”
“The regime’s narrative blatantly contradicts its actual poor record on women’s rights, as documented by feminist organisations and international mechanisms,” one writer in Euromed Rights, the largest human rights organisations in the Euro-Mediterranean region, wrote.
“The Egyptian state’s feminist discourse is merely a diplomatic tool to attract international support.”
It could also be recalled that in 2017, the National Council for Women laid out its Women Empowerment Strategy, which included the aim of reaching at least a quarter of female judges by 2030.
It should be noted that Tahany al-Gebaly became the first female judge to be appointed to Egypt’s supreme constitutional court in 2003.
