Catching a Ride

Cairo's Women Cabbies

Women’s Rights – It may seem like a regular Egyptian taxi with the radio playing and the meter on, but the eyes in the rear view mirror belong to a woman. Nadia Abdel-Gaber has broken through the barrier in the traditionally male dominated field, and it’s paying off as she is one of only a handful of women cab drivers in Cairo.

Even though Egypt is fairly liberal in their treatment of women, the career choice of cab driver is odd for a woman due to the fact that it is not socially accepted for women to allow strangers into their vehicles.

Even though many people in Abdel-Graber’s family are not fond of her career choice, “especially her sister, who lives in Saudi Arabia where women are prohibited from driving at all,” as a single mother of three whose husband abandoned her, she sees no shame in her career and believes in “standing on her own two feet.”

Abdel-Gaber owns her cab and the job gives her flexibility to take care of her children. She chooses her own clients, avoiding young men who may harass her, she never leaves Cairo, and rarely works at night. She has also acquired many women clients who feel more comfortable being stuck in traffic with a woman than a man who “may sneak leering peeks back at his passenger.”

Despite being in the minority in the field, Nadia has taken a big step for women in the country, proving it’s okay to be independent and be proud of that choice.

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Read more at the Associated Press.