Egypt's women protest beatings

The Egyptian military savagely attacked protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square last weekend, and inadvertently unleashed a powerful force for democracy: the nation's women.

Soldiers in riot gear beat and stripped women who participated in the protests against military rule. In one infamous incident captured on video and viewed worldwide, a half-dozen soldiers beat a supine woman with batons, partly stripping her and kicking her in the chest. She's become internationally known as the "blue bra girl."

Fortunately, rather than intimidating protesters, the ruling military council's brutal disrespect has energized the women of Egypt. They poured into the streets by the thousands Tuesday, demanding an end to military rule and a voice in the nation's political life.

Women took part in the 18 days of protests that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in February, ushering in this period of military rule. But until Tuesday, efforts to organize women-only protests had largely fizzled.

The military council is overseeing a three-month election process and has promised to hand power to an elected president by July. Egyptians were voting yesterday in runoff elections for the lower house of parliament. But the military's heavy-handed abuse of pro-democracy protesters has given them reason to question the council's intentions.

And it has propelled legions of women to join the fight.