Samira Ahmed: The struggle for women's rights

Egyptian actress Samira Ahmed has expressed her concerns regarding women's rights and freedom of expression. She said to Arabstoday: “The situation in Egypt is going from bad to worst and I'm notoptimistic at all. “Is it normal that they are trying to legalise marriage with girls as young as 9 years-old? This would mean going backwards to a time where people were ignorant and persecuted women. This is rape, not marriage." The actress added: “Women are facing persecution, they are losing their rights, and they're being marginalised since the revolution." She recalled watching an episode of 90 minutes presented by Reham el-Sahly: “A Salafi Sheikh from the Founding Committee was on the phone that day. He didn’t greet the presenter or myself, only another sheikh in the studio. He only talked to him, and never talked to the women who were present.” She said she was worried the Muslim Brotherhood would not improve women's status. Samira said: “President Mohamed Morsi should work on improving women's conditions. He should apologise for what women had to face in previous generations." The actress called the head of the actor syndicate Ashraf Abdel Ghafor to resign from the Founding Committee: “He’s not even capable of defending himself when he’s insulted. How is he supposed to defend women in the Egyptian Constitution?” She is worried that Egyptian artists might have to leave the country like in 1967, when actors left Egypt for Lebanon after the June crisis. She concluded the interview saying that she miss late actor Ismail Yassin, as he would make everyone laugh in this life full of sadness.