Egypt’s Leading Women · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Egyptian women, like many other women, have great potential once they unleash their power. Eva habil, Passant Refaat, and Radwa Saad El Din are three women who took the lead in three different fields.
In December 2008, I quoted Muslimah Media Watch who blogged about Eva Habil, a 53 year-old Christian lawyer, who became Egypt’s first female mayor on December 14, representing Komboha, a rural town in conservative Upper Egypt with a Coptic majority community.
On her blog, Ayam wa Ayam, Shaymaa El Gammal interviewed Passant Refaat, Egypt's first Female DJ:
Shaymaa: And what about the rest of your family? Did they support you? How?
Passant: Without the support of my family I wouldn’t have been the 1st female DJ. Starting from my brother Tarek who taught me the art of DY-ing, and also gave me support and help in any thing I got lost in. As for my mum, I was only 15 years old and it was hard for me but she was always helping me and pushing me to go further and better. Also Ahmed my brother always accompanied me, because it is very hard for a girl to stay out late especially in clubs and parties, they supported me and helped me to unleash this talent I got for DY-ing.
Shaymaa: What obstacles did you face as a female DJ?
Passant: I used to stay for 12 hours a day mixing and tying out things, it was sometimes very difficult, but I have to say that I enjoyed every second of it. Nothing can replace the feeling of doing the thing you love to do most. I tried to work at some places, but the answer was “you are very young and we don’t have a permission for girls to work here, but I didn’t give up, I was determined to do something that brings me joy, as u know everything is always difficult at the beginning. The biggest of all obstacles was my studies besides DY-ing. It was very hard to have a party till very late at night and you have a university in the morning, and some times there are parties during my exams, but I could totally manage my time and I did both at the same without one interfering the other.
Shaymaa: How do men think about you as a female DJ?
Passant: Actually they thought it was very nice, they used to come and speak to me and encourage me.
In another post[AR], Shaymaa El Gammal wrote about Egypt's first female tanoura dancer: