According to a poll conducted and published by Reuters, Egypt is the worst Arab state for women to currently be living in.
Women activist and protesters who participated in the Arab Spring in 2011 believed the removal of Hosni Mubarak would open the doors for more womens rights but violence and a growing Islamist rule has reversed the wished for outcome and has made Egypt the worst state of 22 to live in with Comoros being the best, Reuters reported.
Since the 2011 revolts, discriminatory laws, instability, displacement and a rise in female trafficking has placed Egypt at the bottom of the list, with sexual harassment and female genital mutilation are on the rise, Reuters reported.
The cutting of female genitals happens to 91 percent, or 27.1 million, of women and girls in Egypt according to UNICEF, Reuters reported.
Egyptian columnist Mona Eltahawy said that though Hosni Mubarak was removed in 2011, his ideas and rules are still vivid and alive in the country, repressing any hope of more rights for women.
"We removed the Mubarak from our presidential palace but we still have to remove the Mubarak who lives in our minds and in our bedrooms," Eltahawy said. "As the miserable poll results show, we women need a double revolution, one against the various dictators who've ruined our countries and the other against a toxic mix of culture and religion that ruin our lives as women."
In a report released by the United Nations this past April, 99.3 percent of women, and girls, have experienced sexual harassment, and a Human Rights Watch reported 91 women were raped or sexually assaulted publicly in Tahrir Square in June during anti-Morsi protests, Reuters reported.
"The social acceptability of everyday sexual harassment affects every woman in Egypt regardless of age, professional or socio-economic background, marriage status, dress or behavior," Noora Flinkman, communications manager at HarassMap, a Cairo-based rights group that campaigns against harassment, told Reuters.
According to Flinkman, this acceptance of degrading women "limits women's participation in public life," and "affects their safety and security, their sense of worth, self-confidence and health."
The increased violence and protests which have left thousand dead has also widowed many Egyptian wives, which respondents have said led to forced marriages and trafficking, Reuters reported.
"There are whole villages on the outskirts of Cairo and elsewhere where the bulk of economic activity is based on trafficking in women and forced marriages," Zahra Radwan, Middle East and North Africa programme officer for a U.S. based rights group told Reuters.
Refugees international supports this claim and states the 1.6 million Egyptian women who were left widowed or vulnerable raised the incidents of domestic abuse and prostitution.
The list of Arab states from worst to best is as follows: Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Somalia, Djibouti, Bahrain, Mauritania, UAE, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Comoros.
