It takes a certain amount of fortitude to defend the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Washington these days, given the widespread criticism here of his record on human rights.

But in the area of gender equality, Egypt is making progress, according to Moushira Khattab, a distinguished former ambassador to South Africa and the Czech and Slovak republics who was instrumental in gaining passage of a law against female genital mutilation in Egypt in 2008.

Speaking at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on Feb. 10 and in a subsequent interview with Al-Monitor, Khattab pointed to the Jan. 26 decision by an appellate court to convict a doctor, Raslan Halawa, of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 13-year-old girl, Soheir al-Batea, as a result of complications following genital cutting. While Halawa's sentence was relatively light — two years in prison with hard labor — the conviction “was a big victory for women,” Khattab said, in a society where 66% of women still endure this practice.

According to Khattab, women’s rights regressed under the administration of President Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted in 2013 by the military backed by a popular movement. Sisi, Khattab said, has signaled his support for women by appointing one as his national security adviser, naming three women deputy governors and visiting the female victim of a sexual assault as his first act after taking office last June.