"Go vote for this man and go home" : En studie av tre NGO:s arbete med kvinnor inom Egyptens familjelag

Sammanfattning: This bachelor thesis is based on interviews with staff from three Egyptian NGOs in Cairo during the spring of 2013. The study examines how three Egyptian NGOs discuss the woman’s situation within the Islamic legal discourse in the contemporary Egypt. The empiric material was analysed through a theoretical framework of gender in Islam, and a discussion of the concept of human rights laws in a local context. The respondents emphasize the societies gender stereotypes as obstacles in the discussion regarding women’s rights. A woman is first and foremost a mother and wife, according to the local culture as well as the religion. The respondents are very critical towards the Muslim Brotherhoods political agenda, and claim that “they”(the respondents repeatedly referred to the MB as “they” in the empiric material) turn to interpretations of the religion to receive legitimacy as religious role models. According to the respondents the woman has legal rights but the implementation and interpretation of the Islamic law is problematic. Some of the respondents accuse the current political Islamic regime for deliberate neglect in the educational sector, and calls for a reform in the religious schooling system as well as informing women of their legal rights. This thesis also analyses the tension between western human rights laws and a local community, where human rights discourse is associated with an imperialistic and colonial power.