Womens Rights in Saudi Arabia - Article Example

Feature Article about Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia Name Institution Tutor Course Date Feature Article about Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia Inequity based on gender exists in many societies and varies across social and ethnic groups. In many communities the burden of hardship mostly falls on women. There are many different types of gender inequity such as education provision, employment, access to health, and property ownership. Gender inequity is translated as power imbalance where women are more vulnerable especially in the traditional and patriarchal societies such as Saudi Arabia (Amartya, 2009). In Saudi Arabia, the local interpretations of the Islamic laws and other social norms may have negative implications on women rights. This feature article will address the issue of women rights violation in Saudi Arabia in areas such as education, marriage, healthcare, and driving ban for women. Under the Islamic laws, most of the freedoms mentioned in the Universal Declaration in Human Rights do not exist in Saudi Arabia. These are mainly the laws that touch on women rights such as covering the faces when in public, the system of guardianship, being discriminated in education provision, unequal treatment in the health sector, and the ban in driving for the female drivers (Amartya, 2009). All these result in women being victims of circumstances and treated like second-class citizens. As a result many activists initiated campaigns against various aspects of women rights violation in Saudi Arabia. Saudi women instigated a right-to drive campaign that gained attention from international media and other conservative authorities in Saudi Arabia. The individuals involved in the organization of the Women2Drive Campaign had encouraged women to take to the streets in large numbers on June 17th 2011. This was certainly defying a religious edict, fatwa, that forbids Saudi women from driving automobiles (Nichols, 2011). One leader of the movement behind this campaign, Manal AlSharif was put into detention for one day by the Saudi Police after she had posted a video in the YouTube of herself driving an automobile. According to religious conservatives, female drivers will lead to erosion of moral values in the society. Ms Sharif however opposes such observation saying that she is safer while driving in the streets than walking alone. By 23rd May 2011 more than 600,000 people had viewed the video where Manal AlSharif was seen talking to a female friend as she drove around the city of Khobar (Stewart, 2011). These images were not ordinary in Saudi Arabia where there are religious police who are tasked to ensure social traditions are observed such as women covering their faces in public, and avoiding public interaction with unrelated males. All the social media tools that were used by AlSharif and other activists to spread the news about the campaign were removed from the internet. The video that showed AlSharif driving was also removed from the internet and replaced (Stewart, 2011). In addition, the Facebook page that marked the June 17 protest against the driving ban was also removed while AlSharif’s Twitter account was deactivated by the Saudi authorities. Before the “I Will Drive Starting June 17th” Facebook page was removed by the Saudi authorities it read in part, “We women in Saudi Arabia, from all nationalities, will start driving our cars by ourselves. We do not intend to break the law or challenge the authorities, but we simply want to claim one of our fundamental rights. We possess driver’s licenses and promise to adhere to traffic laws (Nichols, 2011 p. A2).” The Women2Drive campaign was not a first of its kind involving the Saudi women, but it was organized in a unique way so as to avoid drastic response from the Saudi authorities. This was mentioned by the Abu Dhabi’s English Publication, The National, which stated “planners of the June 17 protest were taking caution to avoid violating the kingdom’s prohibition of public demonstration by requesting women to participate in their errands individually without converging in one place (Nichols, 2011 p. A2).” Fawziah Al Bakr, who was one of the women who participated in a 1990 protest against the driving ban, was quoted as saying “It means that these girls learnt a lesson. They are smart (Nichols, 2011 p. A3).” Women who drove during that protest faced severe punishments such as losing their jobs, being banned from traveling abroad, or being maligned in mosque sermons. According to Nesrine Malik, a writer at the Guardian, women in Saudi Arabia are repressed and face many challenges. She stated that, “The Saudi driving ban is a social rather than a political issue which the authorities would rather not create controversy on. The Arab rulers should take it as a lesson that withholding human rights may lead to explosion of dissent (Stewart, 2011 p. A5).” The arrest of Sharif did not deter the Women2Drive campaign from taking place but instead it gained more publicity. A woman from Saudi Arabia, by the name Shaima Jastaina, was convicted by a religious court to receive 10 lashes for driving in a country where women were not allowed to drive. It was the first time for such a legal punishment to be subjected to an individual for breaking the driving ban in the Muslim kingdom. This verdict took many women by surprise especially when it came just a day after King Abdullah had announced that women would have the right to vote in the 2015 local elections (Stewart, 2011). Shaima was found to have committed an offence and was sentenced for it. This sentence was later revoked by King Abdullah following a pubic outcry. The sentencing of Shaima was supposed to be a warning to the many Saudi women who were disobeying the driving ban. Despite being the only country in the world with a driving ban for women, Saudi Arabia laws do not prohibit women to drive. The ban is however founded on the conservative religious and cultural beliefs that enforce the domination by male (Nichols, 2011). Women therefore have to depend on hired drivers or be driven by male relatives and also require male guardian’s permission to travel abroad, work or take part in certain types of surgery. Although there is no written law banning women from driving, there are laws that require citizens to use locally issued licences while in Saudi Arabia. Such licenses are however not issued to women, and hence promoting the ban on women’s driving. When police encounter women drivers, they just stop them, question them, and only release them after they pledge never to drive again. Men therefore have more control while women are denied their fundamental rights, such as freedoms of speech, movement, and association. For instance, the driving ban is interpreted as a way of protecting women from the dangers associated with driving. But defenders of women rights said the religious interpretation of the ban was misguided and irrelevant. The prohibition from driving is just part of the many problems faced by the Saudi women in relation to their rights (Amartya, 2009). Conservative guardianship criminalizes the women’s autonomy and engages in degrading forms of punishments such as stoning and physically assaulting of women alleged to have been involved in crimes touching on sexuality and moral conduct. The health care system in Saudi Arabia is run by the Ministry of Health but the laws of the land affect the women’s health care in many aspects. For instance, a Saudi woman cannot be admitted in a government hospital unless she is accompanied by a male guardian (Park, 2008). In rural areas a male relative can prevent a woman from being attended by a male doctor even in emergency cases. In connection to this, an adult woman has no authority to sign consent for a medical operation which might be needed urgently. In the past, women’s education was compromised in Saudi Arabia where opening of schools for girls was met with opposition by authorities. Any non-religious education was seen as unsuitable for girls. This state of education for women in Saudi Arabia has continued to deteriorate with girls’ schools following a different curriculum from the boys’ schools. Sports education is not allowed in girls’ schools and females are also prohibited from taking part in physical activities in public places (Al-Nozha, 2005). It is the lack of physical activities that has led to a higher rate of obesity in Saudi women than in males. Saudi women are also prohibited from studying some courses such as journalism, law, and engineering. According to latest studies 49.9% of the Saudi populations are females but only less than 21% of them contribute to social development agendas (El-Gilany and Al-Wehady, 2008). This is because it is totally unacceptable for women in Saudi Arabia to word in disciplines other than medicine and teaching. Although Saudi Arabian women work in the medical discipline, they are mainly restricted to work in juniour positions with the seniour positions being a preserve for men (Al-Tamin, 2004). The Saudi society does not welcome the participation of women in the medial field due to the nature of work, where women come into close contact with male medical staff and patients. The medical career in women is also seen as an obstacle for future marriage (El-Gilany and Al-Wehady, 2008). This could be the reason of the low morale and job satisfaction among the female nurses in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is generally a male dominated country. Unmarried woman should be under the custody of her father, a married woman should be under the custody of her husband, while a widowed woman should be under the custody of her sons (Boutayeb and Serghini, 2005). In this type of a society, it is common to see women being forced to marry their relatives and hence the high prevalence rate of inherited genetic diseases. In Saudi Arabia, no minimum legal age for marriage has been set. Females can therefore be forced to marry while under the age of 16 years. According to Amartya (2009) early marriage was found in more than 27.2% of all the Saudi Arabian women. Most of the women married off were illiterate end hence were housewives. The teenage pregnancy may therefore be a factor of the high maternity mortality rate in Saudi Arabia. The laws in Saudi Arabia state that a woman has a right to divorce but in reality this decision solely depends on the husband. Theoretically, a father and mother have the rights regarding the adoption of their children (Park, 2008). This does not however happen as mothers cannot name or register their children without the presence of their husbands. If the husband dies, the uncle is supposed to be the guardian of the children and hence denying the mother such opportunity. Due to the expense involved in marriage, a temporary form of marriage between man and woman, referred to as Misyar, is being practiced in Saudi Arabia. In this kind of arrangement, the husband and wife live a separate married life where they only meet occasionally for sex. This allows men to have other relationships and can break up with their wives without telling them. Women have no right to decide the number of children they should sire in a family. Consequently, Saudi Arabia has a high fertility rate and this could be the reason why women continue giving birth in the late stages of their reproductive life (El-Gilany and Al-Wehady, 2008). Due to this factor, there are high risks of children being born with genetic abnormalities such as Down syndrome. The inequality of women in Saudi Arabia sometimes extends to the justice system based on strong Islamic principles. According to the Saudi government, men and women are supposed to have equal rights of movement. But in reality women are not allowed to drive and can only sit at the back seats of the public transportation. The Saudi Arabian government should give women an opportunity to study courses of their choice and give them rights to make decision on the education level they want to attain without seeking for opinion from male guardians. The justice system should also be streamlined in order to be fair to both women and men while handling investigations in cases involving rape or adultery. In general the Saudi Arabian government should be at the forefront in enacting a law addressing the issue of gender discrimination. The religious laws about women rights should also be adapted in accordance with the Universal Declaration in Human Rights. The Saudi government should also allow NGOs to engage in activities concerning women rights in Saudi Arabia so as to ensure fair gender practices. Reference List Al-Nozha, N., 2005. Obesity in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Medical Journal, Vol. 26(5), pp. 824-829. Al-Tamin, D., 2004. Saudi women in academic medicine. Are they succeeding? Saudi Medical Journal, Vol. 25(11), pp. 1564-1567. Amartya, S., 2009. The many faces of gender inequality. New Republic, Vol. 225(12), pp. 35-41. Boutayeb, A. and Serghini, M., 2005. Health indicators and human development in the Arab region. International Journal of Health Geographics, Vol. 28(5), pp. 61-63. El-Gilany, A. and Al-Wehady, A., 2008. Job satisfaction of female Saudi nurses. Eastern Mediterranean health Journal, Vol. 7(2), pp. 31-37. Nichols, S., 2011. Saudi women campaign for right to drive. Retrieved on 7th January, 2012 from http://wagingnonviolence.org/2011/05/saudi-women-campaign-for-right-to-drive/ Park, M., 2008. Racial/ethnic disparities and culturally competent healthcare among youth and young men. American Journal of Men’s Health, Vol. 2(2), pp. 192-205. Stewart, C., 2011. Saudi woman arrested after defying driving ban. The independent, 23rd May. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-woman- arrested-after-defying-driving-ban-2287817.html (Accessed 7th January, 2012). Read More