Egyptian woman calls for recruiting girls in army

Many Egyptians refuse the Idea to recruit the girls in the army due to the habits rooted in the community based on gender discrimination, said founder of "Egyptian Female Solider" campaign Jihad Al Komy.   However, she stressed that there are many social categories who expressed their support for the idea not only in Lower Egypt's governorates but also in Upper Egypt. She clarified that peole of North Sinai's Arish city are the most to support the Idea due to the women's desire to defend their families against terrorism.   She added, in an interview with "Arabs Today", that it was not a new idea, as she was aspiring, during her childhood, to join the Egyptian army to defend her country. When she realized the impossibility to achieve this idea, she hoped to see a women army in Egypt.   She added that her idea has been refused from many people, except her mother who was keen to support her. As a teacher of history, she said about her mother, she was convinced of the Idea which has deep background in Egypt's history.   She continued, "When I was presenting my idea before my colleagues, they strongly refuse it, while it found acceptance in social media from few number of women. We contacted to launch our campaign."   Regarding the difficult life in the army, she said that it is her dream so she is ready to overcome the different challenges to achieve her objective. She signaled to the foreign models, including in the Arab countries, of girls who joined the military life and succeeded.   She added that obtained licenses to launch a campaign inside the university to increase awareness among the girls over the importance of their role to serve the country.   She added that her idea reached to Egypt's presidency, saying that President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi welcomed the idea and ordered to arrange a meeting for us with a number of senior officials, including the prime minister, interior minister, and a representative for the minister of defence.   She added that they met with former Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab who promised them to present the issue before the parliament. She called the Egyptian parliament to discuss the Idea.