Egyptian Feminist Union lashes out

The Egyptian Feminist Union expressed Thursday its strong rejection of a study conducted by Thomson Reuters Foundation about the Egyptian women which puts Egypt as the worst Arab state for women. The study said that 99% of the Egyptian women have been exposed to sexual harassment and that discriminatory laws and a spike in trafficking also contributed to Egypt’s place at the bottom of a ranking of 22 Arab states. "The methodology of the study is not scientific, How could a study use 300 experts as sample to represent the whole Arab region with all of its countries," said union head Hoda Badran. Badran also put the report's credibility at question since it mentioned it was based on UN figures saying that, "whenever the UN issues statements, the country concerned and major NGOs should be aware of them, and in Egypt's case this has not happened." Badran, however, mentioned that only part of the report was correct which is related to the low representation of women in the parliament. The foundation issued its third annual women’s rights poll that said gives a comprehensive snapshot of the state of women’s rights in the Arab world three years after the events of 2011 and as Syria’s conflict threatens further regional upheaval. Source: MENA