Renad Ghanem
CAIRO — Like women around the world, Egyptian women seek to improve their future, and so each year many of them make the difficult decision to travel abroad to look for work.
Egyptian society, like many Arab societies, believes that it’s not easy for women to travel and live alone.
Some are concerned with safety and the idea that women are unable to protect themselves, while others fear the social stigma attached with a woman living abroad alone.
But despite the difficulties, many women still take the risk. They travel to find who they are, leaving behind them all the fears and doubts of Egyptian society.
One Egyptian woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she decided to break all the rules that her family had built, and traveled to Dubai to find the perfect job opportunity, despite her family’s rejection.
“My parents were totally against the idea. They told me that it’s shameful to tell people that their daughter traveled alone and stays alone in another country. They rejected the whole idea, and they told me that they will not give me money to prevent me from traveling,” she said.
The woman said she had tried many times to convince her parents that they should let her walk her own path, but they believe that society would blame them without concerning for her aims and dreams.
“I borrowed money from my sisters, who were totally supporting this step. They believe that I have to achieve my goal in life and can be a successful person,” she said.
“The funniest part to me was that my parents didn’t tell our relatives that I’m traveling. I was frustrated that my parents were afraid of society more than being afraid about my future. I traveled to Dubai despite all that, now I’m doing what I’ve dreamt about, I have a good job, I have my own money, my own car and I’m preparing to go back to Egypt soon to make my own project,” she said.
“Despite all that now they are so proud of me and of what I achieved for myself and my career progress,” she said.
Another young Egyptian woman, Sherin Ahmed, also faced rejection from her family about traveling, but decided to travel much farther than Dubai to achieve her aim of pursuing higher education.
“New York is the city where dreams come true, as people say, but my parents have a different opinion, they believe that women should leave her dreams behind and listen to the negative messages that traveling alone carries a stigma,” said Sherin.
“When I finished college, I decided to travel to New York to do my masters, but as in any Arab society, a woman’s decision is pending until her family agrees. I struggled with my family a lot; they kept saying ‘you will not be safe, alone and people will blame us for letting you travel alone.’ They believe I will never find a husband because society will judge me as immoral by living alone in a western country,” she said.
Sherin said her parents allowed her to travel after a year of family discussion.
“I know that my parents are not happy, and they really care about what people will say about me, but I traveled to New York without letting society’s negative messages stop me. I’m doing my master as I want, and I will make my patents proud,” she said.
Despite these cases, there are many others who are rejected by their families, but there are also families who agree to let their daughters travel to work and study abroad.
An Egyptian woman in her late 50’s, Eman Sharaawy, who is also a mother of four girls, said that parents should allow their daughters to travel alone to seek a better future.
“If any of my girls want to travel to work in another country, I will agree. Many people believe that it’s unacceptable to let their daughters travel alone to work or to study, but I believe it is unacceptable to prevent our daughters from finding a better life, build a career, and become successful women,” she said.
“I’ve raised them by Islamic rules and with good ethics, so I’m not afraid for them. I know if they traveled the seven seas, they would be safe.”
