The Victimization of Egyptian Women and Children · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Fantasia is a girl who dreams of a better future for Egyptian women. Writing about herself, she says:
“I am proud to be a girl and I want to spread the word among all females. I believe in female superiority as opposed to all the false claims that have been laid through history to prove the opposite. I want girls, especially in my country, to start believing in themselves and to be valuable citizens who actively join the work force and push their society to positive change.”
Fantasia's World raises crucial issues that hold back the Egyptian society all together; namely women's rights, violence against women and children, and the general misconceptions of male-female relationships in the Egyptian society and in the Arab world. In a recent post, she tackles the issue of how Egyptian women and children are being victimized by traditions, law, and the Muslim Brothers.
In her post, Fantasia touches base on the laws dealing with children's rights which were amended in the aftermath of a whirlwind of debates in Egypt.  The articles are being revised due to the fierce resistance of the Muslim Brotherhood, who occupy 88 seats in the Egyptian Parliament. They “disfigure anything they object to, and represent it in the most horrible attire to the masses who have come to consider them as their trusted source of information and ready made judgements” wrote Fantasia.
With a lot of insight, Fantasia portrays how the life of a typical Egyptian mother is a living hell; she has no say in how many children she could have because for as long as her husband wants children, it is her duty as an obedient wife to grant him the kids his heart desires.
“then, she becomes responsible for nourishing those kids, upbringing them alone (just like a single mom) looking after their health, taking them to school, helping with their homework (if she is educated), besides her regular chores of course, and satisfying her husband in every possible way. Which means, that basically this woman never gets a chance to have any time for herself,” adds Fantasia.
In a not-so-rare scenario in Egypt, the man has the right to beat his wife and children as much and as severely as he wishes and no criminal charges can be filed against him – unless one of them dies as a result of this beating. Why?
“Because some crazy sadistic men have claimed that this is an authorized tool for disciplining a man's wife and children in Islam! Which is absolutely not true” explains the infuriated Fantasia.
In 2008, and for the first time, new laws are being endorsed to protect children in Egypt. According to Fantasia, those laws include:
1- Prohibiting the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and considering it a criminal act which deserves to be punished by law.
2- Considering severe beating of a child by his/her parents to be a violation against child rights,  and therefore authorities will have the right to press charges against the parent in case of severe injuries and causing disabilities.
3- Raising the age of marriage for females to 18 and any female under this age can not have a legal marriage certificate.
4- Giving a mother the right to register her children under her name in the case of conceiving and giving birth to a child outside of wedlock.
The Muslim Brotherhood objected saying [Ar]:
1- FGM should be left as a matter of choice. If parents wish to preserve the “chastity” of their daughters through this procedure, then it is their way of protecting her and deciding what is good for her!
2- The Muslim Brotherhood considers the banning of corporal punishment to be imported to Western societies saying that it is an authorized method of disciplining children according to Islam.
3- MBs like the idea of kids getting married in the name of preserving their chastity and forming a young family.
4- Children who are the fruit of an sinful relationship should be condemned for having an adulterous mother. If this law is accepted, the society and family ties will suffer and men and women will have nothing to stop them from fornification.
“Yeah.. yeah. Great macho men! So, this is religion, huh? We are supposed to buy this, aren't we? So, Islam for you is a religion that rewards sadists, psychos and brutal men, while it punishes women and children, the scum of earth, right? Now, let me see this clearly. According to you, we are worshiping a sick man in the sky.. for this being you are claiming to talk on behalf of can never be a deity of any kind.. he can not raise to the level of the human even! What a bunch of psychos you are! I bet that the devil himself has got more ethics than you do,” concludes Fantasia.