Security “ladyguards” Dawlat Alamein (C) Sofie Mohammed (L) and Basma Abdel Menim (R) exercise at a gym in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis. (AFP Photo)
Her hair neatly tucked under a Muslim headscarf, Dawlat al-Amine practices aikido regularly in a Cairo gym where she and her female colleagues learn martial arts to protect other women.
The black-clad “lady guards” provide a niche service to women who have broken through the Arab world’s glass ceiling and achieved fame and fortune, but who feel they cannot resort to male protection out of deference to the region’s conservative mores.
The leader of neighboring Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, is famous for his female bodyguards, dubbed Amazons. But clients of the “lady guards” include Egyptian actresses and pop divas, as well as princesses and wealthy businesswomen from the oil-rich Gulf.
“We were the first to create a service of lady guards, for several reasons,” said Cherif Khaled, managing director of Falcon group, which first launched the service three years ago.
“Women in Egypt now have been able to break into different fields. They have become businesswomen, lawyers, judges, even marriage officials,” he said.
But, Khaled added, even when women do break through, they ignore the conservative traditions of a male-dominated society like Egypt at their peril.
“At the end of the day, we are a Middle Eastern society. When a woman passes through a security check, she prefers to be searched by a woman rather than by a man,” he said. “When you are dealing lady to lady, things are much easier.”
The Falcon group, a subsidiary of Egyptian bank CIB, employs 3,800 security personnel, providing services ranging from personal protection to cash transfer to security systems. In 2008, the company made net profits of 13 million Egyptian pounds ($2.4 million).
It has some 300 female guards on its register, all of whom have been put through rigorous training in martial arts and “static surveillance” skills.
“I like the idea of protecting VIPs and the idea that I can defend myself anywhere at any time,” Amine said. “It is important for me to be able to protect my integrity.”
Although Amine, 20, wears a jilbab, it is not a compulsory part of the uniform. She says her work has given her a sense of power and status in a country where women often fall victim to male discrimination or harassment.
Falcon advertises regularly in the Egyptian press. Recruits must be between 20 and 35, and have gone through higher education and have martial arts skills. All are put through medical and psychological tests, including an assessment of their conflict management skills. English speakers have an edge.
Agence France-Presse
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