The Cairo metro hires Egypt’s first female train drivers, a novelty in a nation where few women hold formal professions, as it gets ready to expand to accommodate a population that has surpassed 20 million. Hind Omar and two other Egyptian women broke the patriarchal grounds to become the first women driver(train) in Cairo. Suzanne Mohamed is the other name piloting the train.
Egypt Metro Breaks Patriarchy By Hiring Women Driver
Since 1956, Egyptian women have been able to vote and run for office, but patriarchal laws and a predominately male culture have curtailed personal freedoms.
The Cairo Metro offers private coaches for those who prefer not to commute with men.
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Hind Omar, a business graduate and mother of two, claimed that she hurried to apply for a position as a train driver because she wanted to break new ground in a nation where, according to 2020 statistics, only 14.3 percent of women are in official employment.
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Egypt Failed To Provide Opportunities To Women Earlier
The National Authority for Tunnels in Egypt, in collaboration with RATP-Dev, selected two women for the training course, Omar being one of them. The woman, 32-year-old Suzanne Mohamed, recounted being initially seen in the driver’s cab by passengers on the platform.
In a nation where women have restricted access to numerous careers, she claimed that she could see why they were astonished. The Cairo metro system was established in 1987, making it the longest in the Arab world, although it has lagged behind other Arab nations in offering work options for women. In 1999, Moroccan Saida Abad was the first woman to operate a railway in Africa and the Arab world.
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First Published: August 22, 2022 5:46 PM