Women take to the streets despite calls to stay away

The Salafist Front, the protest's main organiser, said on Friday that women should "cheer from the balconies" and document events rather than taking to the streets themselves.

However, women have taken to the streets after Friday prayers in defiance of the directions.

The Salafist Front's Facebook page posted images of a demonstration in Nasr City, a south-eastern suburb of the capital Cairo, showing large numbers of women marching alongside men.