Egypt's "Lady Guards"
An increase in the number of working women in Cairo is giving rise to a new niche within the local security industry: female bodyguards, or "lady guards."
In this part of the world, the mixing of single men and women is highly discouraged. So, according to the Christian Science Monitor, Egypt's leading security company has created a new division of "lady guards" to help these wealthy women feel more comfortable while being guarded.
The Falcon Group, as the Egypt-based security company is known, is pioneering a new model of protection that both signals and supports the rising status of women here. Falcon’s female-guard unit, the first of its kind for women clients, is creating an empowering new career for its employees while capitalizing on the demands of an increasingly conservative society.
These newly trained lady guards say they feel empowered by their work. Amine, a twenty year old "lady guard", tells the Jakarta Globe that "her work has given her a sense of power and status in a country where women often fall victim to male discrimination or harassment."
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Comments
An interesting trend
I think it's great to see women taking the role of protectors, rather than always being the protected.
Egypt isn't the first Arab country to put women to work as bodyguards. Libya's Colonel Gaddafi is said to bring forty female bodyguards with him when he travels. It's not clear why he does this, however, other than his own eccentricities.
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