“I felt like a whole new person,” says Amal, “and I am starting to love myself again. It is kind of like the difference between heaven and hell, and I am now in heaven.” Egyptian women are often looked at from an angle that only selects the tragic side of their lives; they are presented to the world as feeble creatures that are under the oppression and control of many men. Yet, Amal is not weak. As a single mother living in Egypt, her story does not just include hardship, misery and abuse, but it is more than that – it includes power, strength of character, independence, and even happiness. There is a difference between reading a statistic meshed with a short painful story, and reading a story that reveals everything about Egyptian women. Like many other women in the world, they could also experience both happy and distressing stories. But more importantly: they are also able to fight and achieve their freedom. The modern Egyptian woman Before 1920, women were not given the opportunity to initiate a divorce. Since then, the Egyptian legislature has tried to restore the balance…
