1928 -
Egyptian diplomat, lawyer, and law professor.
Aisha Rateb (also Aʾisha Ratib) was educated in Cairo and Paris. At twenty-one, she applied for a position as judge on Egypt's highest administrative court, the State Council. After being rejected, she sued the government. One of its members later filed an opinion confirming that Egyptian law - and Islamic jurisprudence - did not prevent women from serving in the judiciary. The judge concluded the problem was societal. Rateb's struggle was supported by the media, the people, and by feminist leader Huda al-Shaʿrawi.
Rateb was the first professor of international law at Cairo University, and in 1971 she was the second woman to hold the post of minister of social affairs, where she remained until 1977. She was the first person responsible for two ministries - in her case, social insurance and social affairs. In 1978 she became the Egyptian minister of foreign affairs. She was the first Egyptian woman to be appointed ambassador for Egypt, serving in Denmark from 1979 to 1981 and in Germany from 1981 to 1984. Despite Egypt's history of women's participation in civil society since the turn of the twentieth century, it has been slow to open the doors of its judiciary to women. Rateb's efforts have helped to open this door to other women. Egypt appointed its first female judge to the Supreme Constitutional Court, Tahani al-Gebali (al-Jabali), in January 2003.
Bibliography
Apiku, Simon. "Women Win Reform in Egypt's Judiciary: Her Honor Is Historic." World Press, 10 March 2003.
Khalil, Ashraf. "Egypt's First Female Judge May Remain 'The Only.'" Women's eNews. 23 September 2003. Available from http://www.wcwonline.org.
Negus, Steve. "Splash in the Glass: The Appointment of Egypt's First Female Judge Is an Important Step That Needs to Be Followed Up." Cairo Times. 16 - 22 January 2003.
— MARIA F. CURTIS
