Women need to know about their rights

An incident recently at a Riyadh mall and posted on YouTube revealed a startling altercation between a young Saudi woman and the Haia over an all too common theme in our country: Men telling women what is and isn't appropriate to wear.

In this case, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) attempted to eject a young Saudi woman from the mall because they deemed her nail polish — and as the confrontation continued, her lipstick — inappropriate and provocative. As soon as commission members approached the woman, she began recording the incident on her telephone and she challenged the men to explain their reasoning for throwing her out of the mall.
YouTube is full of interesting and entertaining confrontations between members of the public and the Haia, especially when women are involved. What makes this incident different is the young woman's knowledge of her rights and what the Haia is permitted to do and what not to do.
She knew, for example, of the new edict that prohibits commission members from chasing and harassing people going about their business.
She also was aware that the appropriateness of her nail polish was in the eye of the beholder. A minor infraction over the color of one's nail polish hardly requires being thrown out of a public mall.
Judging from the video, the Haia was clearly flummoxed over the aggressive response from the woman. At one point when a commission member pointed out that the woman's lipstick was also inappropriate, the woman replied, "Why are you looking at my mouth?"
I won't judge the Haia's intentions. And it's not for me to say whether the woman's nail polish or her behavior deserved special attention.
The larger picture is this young lady knew her rights and exercised them to her advantage. She summoned the police to complain she was harassed and chased for what she says was no reason and she documented the exchange. She also reminded commission members that actions were contrary to pronouncements of their ultimate boss Sheikh Abdullatif Al-Asheikh. It is a rare thing in Saudi Arabia when individuals have a clear understanding of what rights they possess and how to protect themselves.
Saudi women are at an extreme disadvantage. There are no women's advocacy groups or even social clubs. There are no institutions at the ministry or municipal level that provide resources for women to understand their rights. We are not provided adequate information on our rights in domestic courts pertaining to divorce and child custody, nor do most women have a full understanding of their rights to inheritance.
Without this knowledge we are at the mercy of individuals who interpret laws as they see fit.
Did the young woman break a law? It seems no. Did she violate the Saudi norms of modesty?
Who is to say? The lines of modesty move from day to day and from region to region. What is considered inappropriate dress in Riyadh is perfectly acceptable in Jeddah. So how a woman from Jeddah is to behave when she visits a mall in Riyadh?
Consistent application of the law — indeed, if there is one to govern how women should dress — is the foundation of a civilized society. And knowledge of those laws by both the Saudi population and legal authorities allow us to function in society without upsetting the customs and traditions of our country. In the case of the woman in the mall, I venture that based on the video she had a better understanding of her rights than the Haia.
I am not suggesting that every woman harangue the Haia over the slightest confrontation, but as a form of self-protection women should be aware of their rights and state those rights to legal authorities while insisting a response.
This can only be accomplished through a government-sponsored awareness program. We have similar breast cancer and obesity awareness programs.
A similar effort to publicize women's rights that target women and training programs for legal authorities will go a long way toward minimizing regretful confrontations such as the one in Riyadh.
Following the mall incident, an online Saudi news organization reported the Haia had indicated that it might prosecute the young woman for recording and disseminating the video of the commission members performing its duties, although there are dozens of YouTube videos of the Haia doing its job without resulting in the arrest of the videographers. The Haia also identified the woman through her mobile phone number when she called the police.
It is disturbing the woman may have won a Pyrrhic victory: Successfully arguing the Haia violated her rights, but facing jail time for documenting that victory.

***********

* The article originally appeared in the Saudi Arab news

* The picture is taken from http://www.worldnewstribune.com

Giving Saudi women jobs and respect

By Sabria S. Jawhar

The Saudi Gazette

AT the Saudi Gazette I am fortunate to have editors who value my work and my presence in the editorial department. Working alongside my male colleagues has never been an issue.

That’s why it’s good news to hear that the Ministry of Labor has issued new regulations allowing men and women to mix in government offices. I can only assume that the private sector will follow. I am sure that some families will now reconsider whether to allow their daughters, wives or sisters enter the Saudi workforce. But the benefits from this new decision far outweigh any of the negatives especially if, as the decree says, Islamic regulations are taken into consideration.

But this shouldn’t be considered some great leap in modernizing our society. For one, it’s long overdue. We’re just catching up with the rest of the world, Saudi society or no Saudi society. Here we are with the first decade of the 21st century almost over and we can’t even give women the right to work in lingerie shops or give them the right to drive a car.

And we still must address the issue that 60 percent of Saudi women graduate from universities but only 7 percent can get jobs.

By contrast as many as 40 percent of the female population in other Gulf countries are working. If Saudi Arabia is investing so much in getting women educated, especially with full scholarships available for women in universities abroad, then what is the point if jobs are not available for them?
One wonders why Saudis are comfortable with their women traveling to Kuwait or the United Arab Emirates for jobs they should have in Saudi Arabia.

And that’s the issue. Jobs are available, both in government and private sectors. We just aren’t serious about filling them with women.

What’s more important is that Saudi Arabia suffers socially and economically by refusing women the right to work anywhere they choose. By working and contributing to the economy (and imagine if they were free from the economic constraints of hiring private drivers), women provide a second income for their family. They spend more money to contribute to the local economy. And they develop a strong sense of self-respect and a stronger sense of pride and confidence.

And this brings me to the issue that Saudi women need a greater say in their economic and social future. Most Gulf countries have a fair sampling of women in elected positions. Only Saudi Arabia, the Land of the Two Holy Mosques, to which all Arab nations look for guidance, stands alone in shutting women out of the political process.

The Shoura Council has 150 men but only six part-time female advisers. Advisers, mind you, not full-time participating members. Not a single Saudi municipal council has a female member. And, of course, women are not permitted to vote in local elections.

In our society, women - their minds, their bodies, their role in the family - are so tied to a man’s honor, that we have become paralyzed in moving forward to provide them wider opportunities.
For some reason, we are being pulled kicking and screaming into modernizing our society. Yes, we Saudis struggle daily with the concept of modernization. We equate modernization with Westernization or becoming too American. As if wearing a pair of faded jeans is somehow surrendering to the modern Western culture. The same is true of having women mix with men in the workplace or allow them a full seat on the Shoura Council or being elected to the municipal council.

It’s modernizing how we do business and engage in the political process, but it’s not surrendering our cultural or religious values.

We are in the middle of building six economic cities. But what to do with them? Have them stand as a monument to male superiority by denying women the right to participate? Or are we going to open these economic cities to the entire Saudi society?