| Abstract: | The Government of Egypt is introducing policies to reduce the mortality of women of reproductive age. However, family planning and maternal-child health care programs are unlikely to have the desired impact without corresponding improvements in the status of Egyptian women. Women's status in the areas of education, health, poverty, employment, the family, government, and the community is a crucial determinant of their willingness and ability to accept a smaller family size ideal and become contraceptive users. At present, only 6% of Egyptian women are a part of the work force and 60% are illiterate. In a society in which women are valued on the basis of the number of children they produce for their husbands, those practice birth control risk abandonment and isolation. The powerlessness and insecurity that lead Egyptian women to have an average of at least 5 children impeded national development and thus delay creation of the socioeconomic conditions that could liberate women from their domestic role. Equal opportunities in education and employment would represent a first step toward improving women's status by giving them a source of income and increased independence. Also needed are modifications in archaic marriage, divorce, and custody laws. |
