30-year-old Hind Omar has been appointed as the first female metro train driver in the history of Egypt, an African country.
Arab News reported this information in a report on Monday (August 22).
Hind Omar, a business graduate and mother of two, said she applied to become a metro train driver. Because only 14.3 percent of women are involved in formal employment in the country. Therefore, she wants to set an example for other women.
He also said that initially his parents were worried about him becoming a train driver. But later they gave support. Besides, she said that her husband was by her side from the beginning.
Most importantly, according to him, he has to run trains only during the day. And through her appointment, many more women will dream of working as train drivers in the future.
Although women in Egypt have had the right to vote and work since 1956, the personal rights of women are very limited due to the patriarchal regime and patriarchal society.
Cairo Metro has reserved seats for women. This is to protect women who wish to travel without a male companion from sexual harassment.
The first metro rail in the Arab world started in 1987 in Cairo. But while other Arab countries have hired women train drivers, Egypt has so far refrained from doing so. Saida Abad of Morocco was the first female train driver between Africa and the Arab world in 1999.
(22 Aug)