Where are the Egyptian Women?

As the Egyptian anti-government uprising unfolds the question of what role the Egyptian women are playing is in many people's minds. According to reports, the number of women taking part in the protests is "unprecendented." Slate rounds up various estimates of women in the crowds:

“Ghada Shahbandar, an activist with the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, estimated the crowd downtown to be 20 percent female. Other estimates were as high as 50 percent. In past protests, the female presence would rarely rise to 10 percent. Protests have a reputation for being dangerous for Egyptian women, whose common struggle as objects of sexual harassment is exacerbated in the congested, male-dominated crowd.