Abstract
The position of women in Saudi Arabia society was examined in this paper with the consideration of the increasing cases of women’s independence in Islamic world. The following factors are highlighted to contribute to the elimination of the discrimination against women in Saudi Arabia: the change of the ruling king, influence if the western civilization, religious background. Unwillingness of women to fight for their rights is manly determined by the satisfactory position in the family and the overall protection of the husband.
The first section of the texts describes the background, the religious basis and the traditions which formed he modern women’s position. Among them are the Islamic way of living and the legislative conditions of Arabian relationships. The second section determines the movement towards the women’s freedom in Saudi Arabia, in particular, the attempts of the women to drive a car and take part in the Olympic Games. These findings together bring us to progressive character of Arabic world.
Keywords: women discrimination, Arabia, Islamic society, women rightsElimination of Discrimination against Women: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is one of the most outstanding countries not only because of its wealth and prosperity but also because of some specific features that can be observed in no other country all over the world. Women discrimination in Saudi Arabia is a burning question nowadays that, obviously, has no single point of view. Do really women in Saudi Arabia need this fight for their rights? Is Saudi Arabia moving towards the modern society with sophisticated values or staying on the side of religion and traditional social values? There is no single answer to these questions, therefore, one can only analyze the position of the modern Saudis from different perspectives and make their own conclusions.
Saudi Arabia lagged behind the rest of the world in terms of men and women equality, including the Arab countries, where women have gained the right to vote. The last Arab country to do it did it Kuwait.in 2006. In Saudi Arabia women are still punished for disobedience whipped in from birth to death. Every movement of a woman is controlled by a man. The woman can not leave the house without the permission of her husband, the father, brother, son or cousin. Each of her choice including education or place of work is determined by the male guardian. Even the doctor would not operate if it is not this permission male relative. Well, passport and she will not be able to get. Therefore, the decision of the king to grant women the right to vote is called "truly historic" though is not believed to particularly affect the change in the social status of women in Saudi Arabia. “Women in Saudi Arabia rarely work. Many professions are closed to them, such as those where it can or should communicate with strange men. But the situation is improving gradually. This year, Saudi Arabia women were allowed to work lawyers. One time here wanted to build a separate area for women, where women will be able to work freely” (Daily Fresher, 2013).
According to the last UK week even more surprising restrictions include:
- “Entering a cemetery;
- Working in a lingerie shop (some stores have recently begun hiring female employees, but the majority are still staffed by men);
- Reading an uncensored fashion magazine;
- Buying a Barbie” (The Week UK, 2014).
The Arabian word "hormah" signifies a woman, though etymologically the word "haram" means «sin." Girls in Saudi Arabia since early childhood are raised on the principles of their inferiority, humility and obedience. With the first menses the girls should cover their heads. Later they should wear a cape that covers the body from head to toe (abaya) and face (niqab) and they could not be out in public without the corresponding clothes. Otherwise the religious police armed with metal bars can "instill" modesty - just beat on the street.
Therefore, despite the incredible heat in Saudi Arabia the women wear dense and black stockings in order for the naked inch of the legs not to be seen from the upper garment. Some women do not go out without gloves. Even in his home the woman can show the face only to the man of her family. Women's semi-detached house harim (hence the word "harem") is separated from the part where the guests are usually treated. No country in the world has such a separation of men and women as in Saudi Arabia. Women can not either use any public transport or share elevators, restaurants (separate entrances and exits, rooms for couples and for men) with men.
The segregation often resulted in senseless tragedy. For example, in 2002 the world was struck by the news that one of the girls' schools in Saudi Arabia was burned alive with a few dozen of students just because fire-men refused to enter the woman's room and take schoolgirls out from a burning building. Carmen Bin Laden (the wife of the brother of Osama bin Laden) even described the case when a pregnant woman who fainted on the street could not be helped by her husband because a man could not take a woman in his arms in public. Carmen, an Iranian mother, despite the fact that his father is Swiss lived in Saudi Arabia for many years and considered it to be the isolated kingdom on earth.
Muslim clerics in Saudi Arabia strongly stand for the preservation of the ban on women driving. They are also supported by the scientists that if women get a driver's license Saudi Arabia closer to moral decay. This is considered to promote homosexuality, pornography, prostitution and divorce. These findings were officially presented to the royal council. Incidentally, Saudi Arabia's strictness of morals has long been coexisting with drug addiction and sexual promiscuity. As a woman does not have the right to get behind the wheel, Saudi Arabia has to hire foreign drivers (they are more than 4 million of them in Saudi Arabia), which is considered to be a family member dealing with conveying women. The problem is that the driver's salary ($ 300-400) is one-third of the average family income. Lean and progressive families start to resist this tradition in order to minimize the expenditures.
First Shaim from Jeddah tried to undermine the unshakable rules of women's driving: she sat in the driver's seat and drove the kids to school. She found followers (blamed on Facebook) mainly with international driver's license acquired in Egypt or Lebanon. Some of them were stopped by the police and managed to get out, some of them were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment and flogging whips.
Another brave woman published a video on YouTube of herself driving a car. Manal al-Sharif was arrested, after that released on bail. She was again arrested at her home at night. The prosecution was not only driving a car but also the video itself. In Saudi Arabia it is prohibited to take pictures of people, houses or streets. Those rare pictures that seep are made "underground" or due to the official permission. Information about the arrest of Manal was even available to the general public. The international community, in particular Amnesty International, acted in her defense. As a result, she was released from prison. In January 2012, Saudi Arabia spread the information about her death in a car accident. The British newspaper The Guardian published the retraction in response.
The movement was joined by Princess Amira, the fourth wife of one of the richest businessmen in the world, Prince Walid bin Talal. 28-year-old Amira is for the equal rights given by God to all people. She has Western education, knows several languages and does not wear the niqab outside her home country. Princess speaks in respect and independence enjoyed by Arab women even in the early years of Islam. The first wife of the Prophet Muhammad, a 40-year-old Khadija is the best example. 25-year-old Muhammad asked the man to marry herself. Another wife of the Prophet - Aisha - was the leader of the famous "Battle of the Camel", which raised soldiers to revolt. It was then separated from the women's society "deaf curtain": isolated and closed in the harems. ““After years of false promises to end its absurd restrictions on women, Saudi authorities are still arresting them just for getting behind the wheel,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director” (Hrw.org, 2014).
Nevertheless uncle of Amira's husband King Abdullah as her half-brother, the heir to the throne, still fears that allowing women to drive a car will lead to new requests. Gently saying, someday a woman will be able to drive a car, but not now. The public is not ready for it yet.
Nevertheless the current King of Saudi Arabia stands for the women’s rights to drive a car. “If the council’s proposal gets the royal nod from King Abdullah ibn Abdilazīz, women over 30 would also need the consent of a husband, father or other male guardian to drive. Driving hours for women would be restricted to between 7am and 8pm on Saturday through Wednesday, and from 12 noon to 8 pm on Thursday and Friday, the weekend in Saudi Arabia” (Rt.com, 2014)
This year, meanwhile, will present another shock to Saudi society .The reason of it is the is frail 18-year-old rider Dalma Rushdi Malhas, who privately (using parents' money) flew to London for the Olympic fees. Saudi authorities, of course, do not approve the participation of Muslim women in such events. Girls in school are officially banned to participate in any kind of sport events as well as doing sports. The International Olympic Committee warned that all Saudi athletes will be excluded from the Olympic Games if at least one female athlete is among them. Apparently, the case of Dalma was the great exclusion of Saudi authorities and the step forward the elimination of women's discrimination in Saudi Arabia.
Therefore the ruling from 2005 King Abdullah is lobbying women's rights as none of the Saudi king before him. The following actions can be mentioned as an example:
1. Last year two women from Saudi Arabia received the right to represent the country at the Olympics for the first time. It was at the Olympic Games in London when 2 Saudis experiences the spirit of the competition (Hrw.org, 2014).
2. There are negotiations to allow the creation of women's sports associations.
3. In January the king appointed the first 30 women in the Shura Consultative Council.
4. In the first half of 2015 the women will have the right to vote and stand for election to the county councils for the first time (The Huffington Post, 2014).
Obviously, every time the Conservatives oppose the decisions of the government though the fact that such implementations take place proves that Saudi Arabia is doing a great progress towards the fight for the equal rights of men and women. No changes can be implemented without the resistance towards it but the fact that the society realizes the importance of this change is difficult not to notice.
Though huge debates are around the discrimination of the women in Saudi Arabia, does anybody think about the other side of the process? It is an open secret that overwhelmingly Islamic women are satisfied with their position in the society as they live only using the money of their husband’s. Moreover, when the woman gets married, he has the right (of course in the name of her father) to sign the marriage contract. In Islam the view of woman is not an empty phrase. Hadith known many cases where women came with their ideas on religious, economic, social issues and they were taken into account.
Most Saudi’s women will agree that is as a pleasure for them to serve their husbands, to satisfy them and to make them feel pleased. From the early childhood they are thought that their father’s opinion is a must and, moreover, women are pleased to follow his piece of advice. Saudis always feel the strong defense of the family and know that the family is the most crucial thing in their lives. According to the religion their goal is to raise children and to be the perfect wife for the husband. If one looks deeper into the issue he will realize that orthodox woman also have the same responsibilities. The only contrasting thing is that they need to work hard on earning money and even often raise the children themselves. Obviously, women are granted more freedom of choice in any other religion but the question remains the same – do they still need this freedom or just prefer to feel safe and sound next to the husband? It is an open question and each woman would answer differently. Anyway, the answer of Islamic woman will definitely prove that the family value occupy the first place in her personal rank. Therefore women mostly act passively when fighting for their rights in Saudi Arabia. Eventually, it does not mean that they are frustrated or abused. Most of them are satisfied and simply not ready to changes.
References
Daily Fresher,. (2013). How do women live in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved 15 December 2014, from http://www.dailyfresher.com/2013/11/how-do-women-live-in-saudi-arabia.html
Hrw.org,. (2014). Saudi Arabia: Release Women Driving Activists | Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 15 December 2014, from http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/12/02/saudi-arabia-release-women-driving-activists
Hrw.org,. (2014). World Report 2013: Saudi Arabia. Retrieved 15 December 2014, from http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/saudi-arabia
Rt.com,. (2014). Saudi Arabia mulls women’s right to drive - but only for over-30s вЂwithout make-up’. Retrieved 15 December 2014, from http://rt.com/news/203479-saudi-women-driving-right/
The Huffington Post,. (2014). Saudi Women Hope For Greater Rights In 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/11/saudi-women_n_6308266.html
The Week UK,. (2014). Eleven things women in Saudi Arabia can't do. Retrieved 15 December 2014, from http://www.theweek.co.uk/middle-east/60339/eleven-things-women-in-saudi-arabia-cant-do
