An Egyptian woman who disguised herself as a man for 43 years in order to work and provide for her daughter was awarded "best mum" by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, on Sunday.

Sisa Abu Daooh from Luxor in South East Egypt was only six-months pregnant when her husband died in the 1970s, leaving her penniless. At the time, restrictions on women's employment in Egypt's patriarchal society meant she was unable to get a job. While office work was offered to some women, her lack of education meant she had to find an alternative solution that would allow her to make a living and take care of her daughter - to dress up as a man.

Her conservative family told her it was inappropriate for her to work and her brothers tried to get her to marry again. “All the time they kept bringing new grooms to me,” she said. But she had found a way to make it on her own. She shaved her head and wore loose fitting clothes which allowed her to make bricks, harvest wheat and sell them.

“When a woman lets go of her femininity, it’s hard,” she told The Guardian. “But I would do anything for my daughter. It was the only way to make money. What else could I do? I can’t read or write, my family didn’t send me to school, so this was the only way.”

Single mother dressed as a man for 43 years to support her daughter