Since I currently work in Saudi I’d thought I share a few facts about the way it is for women here in Saudi.
Saudi women are generally not allowed to work in their country. In spite of the fact that around 70% of Saudi women go to university they make up around only 5% of the total workforce.
Women cannot testify in a Saudi court of law unless it was a personal matter that did not happen in the sight of men (except presumably a male defendant if she is testifying against him). Non-Muslims, male and female, cannot testify in a Saudi court whatsoever. When a woman testifies it is treated as a presumption rather than a fact.
Women are not allowed to drive motor vehicles or ride bicycles on public roads in Saudi Arabia.
Woman citizens of Saudi are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims.
Women, especially Saudi women, are required to wear ‘abaya’ in public. The abaya is an overgarment that goes from the shoulders right down to the ankles. Traditionally it is black and most women’s abayas are black. They are also required to cover their heads with a scarf. Many also cover their faces. Foreign women (especially non-Muslim) do not have to wear the abaya but they are required when in public to be modestly dressed and that means long sleeves, full length trousers or skirts and they should not show too much neck.
Above is a picture of Moon dressed in her abaya. Suits her don’t you think? Moon came to stay with me here in Saudi during the last two weeks in July.
Women cannot generally go anywhere in public without being accompanied by a male relative. There is a provision that the male can be a young boy. I have seen women here in the supermarkets seemingly without their men but almost always they are in the company of one or more other women. From what I understand, women who go anywhere without a male relative, have to have the permission of their husbands.
What some call gender apartheid is prevalent. Segregation of male and females in public places is commonplace such as waiting rooms in hospitals and banks. Beaches and restaurants have areas segregated for families and non-families. That means you can only go to the family section when you are in the company of your spouse and or children.
Daniel McNeill in his book published in 2000 The Face: A Natural History wrote:
“Most Saudi homes have one entrance for men, another for women. Women ride in the back of the bus in Riyadh, and enter it through a separate door. Until 1981 a woman couldn't meet her spouse unveiled till after the wedding. Saudi daughters inherit half as much as sons. Amusement parks and skating rinks have segregated hours, so families cannot visit together. Saudi banks are so segregated that only female auditors examine women's accounts. Medicine is the sole career where the sexes mix, because, though fundamentalists object to women doctors touching male patients, there aren't enough male physicians to go around.”
Women following Muslim practices under Sharia law are not supposed to make eye contact with any male except their spouse and perhaps certain family members such as their sons and fathers.
Under Saudi Basic Law women are denied participation in public law or government. They do however have the right to own property, transact business and have their bank accounts in addition to their husband’s support.
A Saudi woman cannot leave the country without her husband’s or father’s permission and almost never without being accompanied by a male relative.
In 1978 the late and well known American feminist Andrea Dworkin wrote about Saudi Arabia:
“Seductive mirages of progress notwithstanding, nowhere in the world is apartheid practiced with more cruelty and finality than in Saudi Arabia. Of course, it is women who are locked in and kept out, exiled to invisibility and abject powerlessness within their own country. It is women who are degraded systematically from birth to early death, utterly and totally and without exception deprived of freedom. It is women who are sold into marriage or concubinage, often before puberty; killed if their hymens are not intact on the wedding night; kept confined, ignorant, pregnant, poor, without choice or recourse. It is women who are raped and beaten with full sanction of the law. It is women who cannot own property or work for a living or determine in any way the circumstances of their own lives. It is women who are subject to a despotism that knows no restraint. Women locked out and locked in.”
The severity of the situation today has probably lessened somewhat than what it may have been in 1978 but how can we know for sure that in some remote parts of the country that this kind of extreme injustice isn’t still going on?
Saudi Arabia is a country that practices both capital and corporal punishment. According to an article in the Daily Telegraph there were 191 public executions in 2005. So far this year (2007) to July there have already been 107 public executions including just 3 women. There is a case going on at present concerning a Sri Lankan maid who was working for a Saudi family. She was 17 years old and had only just come into the country. She has been sentenced to death by beheading for strangling a four month old boy. The girl now 19 and whose job as a maid was not meant to include child care now denies this and says she was forced to sign a confession under duress and that he was choking on the milk and she tried to save him but to no avail. The girl was denied a lawyer to represent her in court.
The last I have heard was a report in the Times on 26th July that says:
“It was only when the BBC World Service radio reported on the case in Sinhala, the main language of Sri Lanka, that the Asian Human Rights Commission intervened. It raised £20,000 to hire a Saudi lawyer and accused the Sri Lankan Government publicly of failing to protect its citizens. Last week, the Government sent Hussein Bhaila, a deputy foreign minister, to Saudi Arabia along with Nafeek’s parents, who visited her in prison yesterday. “Emotionally and mentally, she’s very down,” Mr Bhaila told The Times.”
In the case of women migrants, especially domestic workers to Saudi families, there is a lot of abuse going on. Presently the Sri Lankan, Malaysian and Philipino embassies can have as much as 150 women in embassy shelters because of abuse at the hands of their employers. This may only represent the tip of the iceberg of the actual amount of abuse still going on.
Saudi Arabian men can have up to four wives at any one time according to Islamic law. And many wealthy Saudis do just that. Tribal societies still exist in Saudi Arabia. There was a report in the media (I recommend following the last link below) in January 2005 about a very wealthy 64 year old tribal chief who was a shepherd turned business man - Mr Al-Sayeri and at the time of the report he had already married 58 wives, although only four at any one time. Whilst Mr Al-Sayeri is more of an extreme example, Saudi men having several wives during the course of their lives is much more common than first meets the eye.
References:
Daily Telegraph article; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=45BQVYBAZNEV1QFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/07/16/wsaudi116.xml
The Times;
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2141360.ece
Anything & Everything Blog;
http://ballyblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/teenage-girl-faces-beheading-in-saudi-arabia/
Sex Segregation in Islam;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_segregation_in_Islam#_note-13
Polygamy in Saudi;
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-01-01-saudi-polygamy_x.htm
Other sources used:
Wikipedia on Human Rights.
What an amazing place. I'd love to take my soulmate there as well. It's brilliantly imaginative. And yes, your wife is just lovely. You're both obviously so happy and well suited together, it's great to see, my friend. Have a great weekend, and keep up these posts. It really brightened a dreary British summer's day (grey clouds, rain LOL).
Saturday 11 August 2007 - 12:27PM (BST)
Looks like a great place, Phil. Actually, Bao Anh and I will be in Da Lat in November to open a new schoolhouse just outside of town. This looks like a fun place to stay, but I wondr if you were able to locate the "Phil-osophical Bird" room, or is that one still in the offing or 2010? I really didn't know you were so close, as the last I had heard you were still on a quest in Saudi Arabia! We've been traveling around too much with friends from outside of the country lately and I've just stopped by long enough to type a quick blog, or two. Hopefully, our paths will oneday cross!!
Saturday 11 August 2007 - 06:34PM (ICT)
Honey Doc, I think that is a great idea to stay there in Oct. The Boobies are so scary, lol...I like the crazy house!
Monday 13 August 2007 - 06:04PM (ICT)
Amazing pictures. I love odd looking houses. Reminds me a bit of the Gaudi houses in Barcelona.
Wednesday 15 August 2007 - 12:29PM (BST)
Beautiful and amazing ... I love that ... Will be staying there one day ... :-)
Wish you and your Moon all the best, Phillip .. :-)
Friday 17 August 2007 - 06:49AM (ICT)
To everyone! Thanks for the comments.
Saturday 25 August 2007 - 07:36AM (GMT)
That is so cool. I want to go there
Sunday 30 September 2007 - 09:15PM (PDT)