Muslim Brotherhood never respected women: Moushira Khattab

CAIRO – 10 March 2018: The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has never respected women as they deserve, said Egypt’s former candidate to the UNESCO’s post of director-general, Moushira Khattab, on Friday during her participation in an unofficial conference to support President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s campaign for a second term.

Khattab added in her short speech that during the one-year that former President Mohamed Morsi had taken office, women’s rights were never on their list of priorities. “Not one of them ever said anything about sexual harassment or any other kind of violence women were facing back then,” she said. She also noted the law draft that was issued to the parliament to abolish the minimum age for marriage of women during their era.

Khattab said that 2014’s constitution admitted women’s rights more than any other previous constitution for the country. “Women and men are completely equal in this constitution,” she stated.

On July 19, 2016, Egypt nominated Khattab for the director-general post of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) after having been selected as Egypt’s candidate through a consultation process that was set by the Foreign Ministry.

Khattab was ranked third among five leading female human rights activists advocating the rights of children and women in the Middle East and North Africa region by Your Middle East website in 2013.

In December 2013, Egypt’s government announced the Brotherhood as terrorist group and that any activates affiliated with it are illegal. Former President Mohamed Morsi, who was backed by the group, took office from June 30, 2012 to July 3, 2013.