Saudi White Ribbon Campaign Faces Conservative Backlash→

Eman al-Nafjan writes about the religious conservatives’ backlash against a newly launched local White Ribbon campaign to end violence against women:

The most influential sheikh to lash out against the White Ribbon campaign is Sheikh Nasser Al Omar. In a video-taped sermon he instructs all Muslims to reject Abdullah Al Alami and Samar Fatani’s campaign. He refers to them collectively as advocates of immorality. He says that the White Ribbon campaign compromises the very foundation of the pact between the Saudi Royal family and Mohammad bin Abdul Wahab’s followers. He also mentions national security three times in the 24 minute long video.

Saudi religious conservatives have repeatedly stood against many initiative aiming to advance women’s rights in the country, especially when such initiatives are linked, even vaguely or remotely, to anything foreign. They have for years fought the adoption of the CEDAW agreement to end discrimination against women, even after the government signed it. Four female college students were arrested during the Riyadh book fair last March for distributing small papers tied to pieces of candy with statements warning Muslim women against the CEDAW agreement

Saudi Women Teachers Protest for Full Time Jobs→

About 30 Saudi women teachers have demonstrated outside the kingdom's Education Ministry, demanding full time jobs.

An Associated Press reporter saw women holding posters Monday calling for full time contracts and benefits that include steady pay and retirement packages.

According to photos posted on Twitter, another protest was staged by women teachers outside the Royal Court in Jeddah on Tuesday.

Saudi Woman Scales Mount Everest→

A Saudi Arabian woman was among 64 people who successfully scaled Mount Everest on Saturday from Nepal’s side of the mountain, according to mountaineering officials.

Raha Moharrak, who is 25 years old and lives in Dubai, has become the first Saudi woman to scale the world’s highest peak. “I really don’t care about being the first,” she was quoted as saying, according to the BBC. “So long as it inspires someone else to be second.”

Sovereign Decision: Saudi Arabia Not Ready to Open Football Stadiums to Women Yet

President of the Saudi Football Federation (SAFF) denied media reports suggesting that the federation will allow women to attend matches in stadiums, saying this decision was not his to make.

“A decision like this is a sovereign decision. Neither me nor SAFF can make it,” Ahmed Eid told al-Riyadh newspaper. “Only the political leadership in this country can make that decision.”

Eid added that there are studies being conducted to explore the possibility of building boxes at some stadiums that can be rented by businesses and families so women can attend football games. Eid said these boxes could be built in the new King Abdullah Sports City stadium when it opens in 2014, and also at Prince Abdullah al-Faisal stadium that is being renovated, both in the coastal city of Jeddah on the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy that applies a strict interpretation of Islam with many restrictions on women. But the country sent two women to the Olympic Games for the first time last year in London after pressure from human rights organizations. Wojdan Shahrkhani competed in judo and Sarah Attar in track and field. Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, praised Saudi Arabia’s late decision to send women to the games. “This is a major boost for gender equality,” he said.

The Saudi government recently announced that it will allow physical education at private girls’ schools under supervision from the Ministry of Education. Some private schools for girls already offer sports classes, but the decision is expected to regulate an existing practice and open the door to other schools to do the same.

Human Rights Watch urged the government to remove hurdles on women sports. “Sports for Saudi girls in schools will have a lasting impact on their empowerment, education and professional opportunities,” said Minky Worden, the director of global initiatives for HRT, in a statement. “Doing away with the ban on sports will allow a generation of girls to compete and to work within the kingdom to pull down hurdles.”

Football is the most popular sport in the country, and SAFF is understandably cautious about the issue of allowing women into stadium. Ahmed Eid is the first elected president of SAFF and also the first non-royal to take this office. A former goalkeeper for Jeddah-based al-Ahli club, Eid is considered a reformer and a supporter of women sports.

Writing in Arab News earlier this year, columnist Sabria S. Jawhar said Eid as “probably the single most important male ally that Saudi female athletes have to get a women’s football team up and running.”

Photo courtesy of Waleed Alzuhair via Flickr

Unemployment and Gender→

Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg reads into the unemployment numbers released by the government and focuses on unemployment among Saudi women:

Their unemployment rate was already extremely high in the first quarter (34 percent), but it went up to nearly 36 percent in the fourth quarter, increasing by nearly five percent in that interval.

Unemployment among Saudi women has been on the rise for some time. In 1999, their rate of unemployment stood at 16 percent. It has since steadily climbed to reach 36 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In other countries, such high rates of unemployment are associated with economic decline or deep recessions, but as the economy grows unemployment rates usually decline for all social groups, regardless of gender or national origin, even when there are differentials in their unemployment rates.

Not in Saudi Arabia, where the economy is booming but the unemployment rates keep rising.

Let Girls Play→

Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch:

All of Saudi Arabia’s women and girls should be able to enjoy the social, educational, and health benefits of taking part in sports. If the government can take down this barrier for private schools, it should give girls and women in publicly funded schools the same benefit.

Saudi Registers First Female Lawyer→

Saudi Arabia has registered its first female trainee advocate, paving the way for women to practice as lawyers in the kingdom where strict Islamic sharia law applies, an activist said on Tuesday.

“The road is open now to women to receive permits to practise as lawyers, after the registration of Arwa al-Hujaili as the first trainee lawyer,” rights activist Walid Abulkhair told AFP.

Alwaleed Calls for Elections→

Saudi billionaire prince Alwaleed bin Talal has called for parliamentary elections in the absolute monarchy where the king names members of a toothless Shura consultative council.

Prince Alwaleed, the richest Arab businessman and a nephew of King Abdullah, said in a television interview aired late Tuesday the monarch’s January decision to appoint 30 women to the council was “very important” but needed to go further.

“For this to become historic, I think two things are essential: first, elections, even if partial, and, more importantly, (giving) powers,” he said in the interview aired on several channels, most belonging to his media empire.

When the interview was first advertised some people wondered if this was an attempt of PR damage control after the prince’s spat with Forbes magazine over his wealth. The controversy only received a brief mention during the interview, where Alwaleed said this was not about his wealth but rather about defending the Saudi stock market and its integrity. Commenters on Twitter said the interview was meant as an introduction to Alwaleed and to show that he wants to become more involved in the public disource in the country. He has praised King Abdullah, but he kept saying much reform is still needed. It is hard to say if Alwaleed is a serious contneder for succession, but he clearly does not lack ambition.

Religious Police Chief Says Saudi Women Driving Bikes Never an Issue→

It turns out the story about allowing Saudi women to drive bikes is not a story after all. The daily al-Hayat today quotes the religious police chief as saying since driving bikes is not a common thing to do in Saudi Arabia, the matter was never actually under consideration to be banned or allowed. Abdul-Latif Al Alsheikh, head of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), told the newspaper that it is not their job to search or follow women who drive bikes when they go to the desert with their families.

Allowed→

Best commentary on Saudi Arabia allowing women to ride bikes in public comes from Kuwaiti graphic designer Mohammad Sharaf. The illustration shows a Saudi woman wearing abaya and niqab with red shoes riding a bike with her mahram (male guardian) watching over her shoulders. The caption reads, “Allowed.”

Saudi Arabia to Allow Women's Sports Clubs→

Saudi Arabia is to license women’s sports clubs for the first time, al-Watan daily reported, in a major step for an ultra-religious country where clerics have warned against female exercise...

Watan said on Friday the Interior Ministry had decided to allow women’s sports clubs after reviewing a study that showed flaws in the existing system.

You would think that the General Presidency of Youth Welfare, the government organization responsible for regulating sports in the country, would be the body to have the last word on this.

On Saudi Women’s Rights, Boredom is a Sign of Progress→

Aryn Baker reports for TIME:

From the outside, progress on women’s rights in the kingdom may appear to be mired in tar. After all, women are still not allowed to drive, they can’t get a job or take a loan without the permission of a male family member, and their designated male guardians, usually a husband or a father, are notified via SMS every time they leave the kingdom. But from the perspective of women inside the country, dizzying changes are afoot. For the first time, female athletes represented Saudi Arabia at the Olympics last year in London. An employment ban has been lifted for female cashiers at supermarkets, and women have taken the place of men in lingerie and cosmetic stores across the country. And in Riyadh on March 26, Cabinet ministers issued a new law making national identification cards mandatory for all women, granting them identities independent from their families and paving the way toward lifting the onerous guardianship system that treats every woman, regardless of her age, as a minor. That would be a crowning achievement for King Abdullah, who has done more for women in his eight-year reign than any monarch since his brother, King Faisal, allowed girls to go to school in 1964.

Flight Delayed After Passenger Asked Attendant Where is Her ‘Mahram’

A Saudi Airlines flight from Jeddah to Dammam was delayed for two hours because one passenger insisted that all women onboard must have their male guardians with them, the daily Okaz reported today.

In Saudi Arabia, which practices a strict interpretation of Islam, women are subjected to male guardianship rules. These rules stipulate that women need the permission of their male guardian, typically a father or husband, to travel. However, the permission is no longer required for women who want to travel domestically.

The passenger, who was not identified, reportedly asked one of the flight attendants why she was on the plane without her mahram (male guardian). The passenger then refused to let the plane take off until all unaccompanied women get off the airplane. As other passengers began arguing with him, the pilot called airport security who forced the passenger and his son off the the aircraft.

The newspaper said flight number SV 1108 finally took off, two hours after schedule, and the passenger was taken in for investigation.

Photo courtesy of Peter Russell on Flickr.

Qatar and Oman Pull Out of Gulf Drama Festival in Riyadh Due to Ban on Music and Women

The ban on women and music has led two delegations to withdraw from the Gulf University Drama Festival being hosted this week at King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh, the daily al-Sharq reported.

The newspaper said that the Qatari delegation has decided not take part at the event after being informed of the restrictions, while the Bahrainis have accepted to perform their play without music. Few hours before their show was scheduled to start, a delegation from Sultan Qaboos University in Oman has decided to withdraw because their female supervisor was not allowed to enter the male campus of KSU, the newspaper said.

For those who know the state of drama and theater at KSU, what happened is hardly surprising. The drama club at KSU, like many other extracurricular activities on campus, are usually controlled by religious conservatives who believe that music and the participation of women are not permissible. The university theater has been “hijacked by groups with certain ideology who forced out anyone who doesn’t agree with them,” said Yazeed al-Khaleefi, a former member of KSU drama club, according to al-Sharq.

No Gender Segregation Wall at Shoura?→

A Saudi newspaper says officials may consider dropping plans for a barrier separating men and the newly appointed women in the country’s top advisory body.

The reports follow the swearing-in ceremony Sunday for the first women in the ultraconservative kingdom’s Shura Council. There was no barrier during the event as the 30 women sat on one side of the chamber and the 130 men on the other.

Worth mentioning that most of the talk about using a barrier between men and women at the Shoura Council chamber has been mostly speculation on the part of local media as government officials preferred to remain vague about the nature of seperation. Now it seems that women will simply be sitting in one side of the chamber with no barriers between them and their female colleagues. Media were not allowed to cover the first session that took place Sunday, but the state news agency has distributed one photo showing the female members in their seats.

Saudi Cleric Slams Shoura Women Push to Lift Driving Ban

A prominent Saudi cleric criticized female members of the Shoura Council who said they plan to debate lifting the ban on women driving as the advisory body begins its sessions for the new cycle next week.

“No wonder. Corrupt beginnings lead to corrupt results,” Sheikh Nasser al-Omar said on Twitter. “Wait for more Westernization.” Al-Omar described the women Shoura members enthusiasm to tackle the ban on driving as “suspicious” and accused them of ignoring “major women issues” that are more pressing.

(بعد أداء القسم، بعض عضوات مجلس الشورى: قيادة السيارة ستطرح بالمجلس) لاعجب، فالمقدمات الفاسدة تؤدي لنتائج فاسدة، وانتظروا المزيد من التغريب

— أ.د.ناصر العمر (@naseralomar) February 21, 2013

من المريب حماس هؤلاء النسوة لقيادة السيارة حلا بزعمهن لمشكلات السائق وتجاهل حلول أنجع وأكثر عملية ، وتجاهل مشكلات كبرى للمرأة ، أكثر إلحاحا!

— أ.د.ناصر العمر (@naseralomar) February 21, 2013

This statement by al-Omar comes after two female members of the Shoura Council told the local al-Jazirah daily that they plan to form a united front at the council to push for allowing women to drive. “God willing, we would discuss women driving,” said councilwoman Dr. Salwa al-Hazzaa, “especially that we are 30 female members in the council and we will be one voice.”

The topic of women driving has been discussed under the dome of the Shoura Council in previous years, but the council has not taken a vote to lift the ban. Newly appointed councilwoman Thurayya Al-Urayed told the newspaper that the door is always open for the public to petition the council to look into different issues. “It is likely that there would be other petitions about [women driving] brought to the council,” she said.

King Abdullah on Tuesday swore in new members of the Shoura Council, including 30 women. “Your place in the Shura Council is not as those who have been honored, but as those who have been charged with a duty, as you represent part of society,” he reportedly told the 30 new women members who make up one fifth of the fully appointed body. The King’s decision has riled the country’s conservative clerics who staged a protest outside the royal court in Riyadh last month.

‘Confine’→

For a conservative take on the topic of women employment in Saudi Arabia, read this opinion piece by al-Madinah columnist Abdullah Munawar al-Jamili translated by Saudi Gazette:

A certain group in society has recently said women should be employed in jobs that put them in direct contact with men and are unsuitable to their natures. This group has claimed this will help lower women’s unemployment and ensure that they can be financially independent. In reality, however, this group wants to confine women in a place where they can take advantage of them.

I hope no one will object to me citing the example of women in the West. Despite the openness and liberty enjoyed by Westerners, sexual harassment of women is a rising phenomenon regardless of the countless laws and punishments that await perpetrators.

Such is the plight of women in these countries that they appear in sexually provocative advertisements and even as bartenders serving men!

While many readers of this site might disagree with al-Jamili, it is good that the paper decided to run the piece. English-speaking audiences rarely get to hear from conservative voices in the country.

King Abdullah Swears In First Women Members of Shoura Council→

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah on Tuesday swore in the country’s first female members of the Shura Council, an appointed body that advises on new laws, in a move that has riled conservative clerics in the Islamic monarchy.

Below is a video from the Saudi state television of the swearing-in ceremony:

‘Personally Envision’→

Despite facing many hurdles in allowing more Saudi women to work in retail jobs, the government keeps pushing in that direction. The latest step is a directive by the Ministry of Labor stating that abaya, the long black cloak women traditionally wear, and nightgown boutiques in the Kingdom must fully staff female employees by June 10, according to Arab News. The newspaper spoke with Fahd al-Tukhaifi, assistant undersecretary of development at the ministry, about the decision:

Commenting on the fact that most of such shops are managed or owned by men, he said, “I personally envision three main requirements to avoid problems in this regard. First, the employer must veil or somehow conceal the interior of the shop if women are working inside. Men should be prohibited from entering these shops with the exception of family sections. The second requirement is that the employer should not under any circumstances employ men and women jointly in the same department.” He added that there should be no fewer than three female employees working the same shift.

The third condition, according to Al-Tukhaifi, stipulates that men working in the same shop should refrain from entering the female department.

“Men visiting the mall or shopping are to be prohibited from entering these shops, unless in the company of their families,” he said.

He personally envisions?

These remarks by the Labor Ministry official can probably explain why the push for women employment in the private sector has been such a mess. Instead of speaking about well thought out plans to implement these changes in the job market, this official is offering his personal opinion on how things should be done. Labor Minister Adel Fakeih is said to be a man who believes in studies and numbers, but such statements by his subordinates undermine his efforts in the uphill battle of Saudization and tackling unemployment.

Master Thesis at Saudi Islamic University: Women Working As Cashiers is Human Trafficking→

Saudi religious conservatives have repeatedly resisted government plans to allow women to work in many fields under the pretext that it would facilitate gender mixing. But a master thesis at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University is now taking it a step further, calling women work at jobs like cashiers, receptionists and flight attendants a form of human trafficking, according to a report published in al-Hayat daily Monday. The master thesis by graduate student Muhammad al-Bugumi argues, according to the newspaper, that such jobs objectify women and therefor they are haram because that is a form of human trafficking.