Blog #13-Research on Women Prisoners (Part 1)

"This is the first woman that I met in prison. Her name was Akila. According to Akila, she was sent to prison because she did not abide by her husband’s rules. He wanted her to have sex with him every night, and she obeyed his words for three years after they were married. However, she was tired of doing something that she did not want. However, she was afraid of speaking up because she knew that she would be beaten to death. One night, after hard day at work, she refused to have sex with him. She knew that this was against the marriage rule in Muslim, but she did not care anymore because she did not wanted to live like a sex slave to her husband. When she refused, her husband got mad at her and started to beat her up. After many hours of abuse, he called the police and she was locked up. She was sentenced to three years in jail because she did not fulfill the needs of her husband. This is a typical case in Cairo, Egypt. It happens all the time to women and sometimes, men. She told me that she had encountered numerous incidents where they treat women like dirt and men like lion. After telling me her story, she told me that she had met someone who had helped her see her problems in a different light. Her name was Dakarai, which means 'happy' in Egyptian. (This character became what is known as “Firdaus” in the novel, Woman at Point Zero.) She described her as caring, passionate, ambitious friend. She would give her advice in everything that troubled her. She had known her for a month and she is very sad that Dakarai, or Firdaus, is placed in death penalty. She would never be able to see her again, the only person Akila considered as a friend."

-El Saadawi