A bleak picture
Published: Mar 8, 2010 00:21 Updated: Mar 8, 2010 00:33
JEDDAH: Despite International Women’s Day (IWD) being a day celebrated annually around the world, Saudi Arabian women do not seem to know much about the event.
The day, which falls on March 8, celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.
In countries like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women’s Day is a national holiday. It is a day of global celebration for women’s advancement, but maybe not in male-dominated Saudi Arabia.
As youth in the Kingdom accounts for between 60 to 70 percent of the overall population, the emphasis should be on youngsters to engineer change for a better future.
Maha Al-Jawini, a 23-year-old clinical dietitian, believes that the Kingdom lacks women rights.
“It’s not just the issue about driving or court and legal problems, these are ancient rules and regulations that may be hard to reform for many reasons. What really bothers me, and I speak for many other Saudi women, are the new rules that show no progress in women rights,” she said.
She cited the example of the King Abdullah scholarship program, launched almost six years ago. “The scholarships were created in order to broaden the horizons of the rising new generation by facilitating education abroad. When it first started, girls weren’t required to go on the scholarship with a male guardian. Of course many people criticized the situation and then it became mandatory,” she said.
“Yet many men finish their education without complications, while many bright women find it hard to travel abroad for higher education,” she said.
Alaa Al-Oweiny, a 27-year-old public relations and trademark officer, has surprisingly heard of IWD.
“I know it’s surprising to know that the occasion exists, especially here in Saudi Arabia since the only thing we know about women rights is that you have no rights,” she said.
Al-Oweiny believes men should be educated first about women rights.
Mai Aziz, a 27-year-old banker, said she has never heard of IWD before.
“I doubt that anything would be done here to celebrate the occasion, not because it’s a women’s day, but because we are slow here. It took them decades to decide on giving citizens a day off to celebrate the national day,” she explained. She said some progress has been made with regards to improving employment opportunities for women, but believes more needs to be done.
According to Mai, women tend to be concentrated only in administrative work and operations.
“There are still positions that even qualified ladies can’t have because of their gender.
Even in terms of salaries, there are always two scales based on gender. Therefore a female manager doesn’t make as much as the male manager,” she explained.
Ghada Saeed, a 19-year-old university student, said that she never heard about IWD before and reckons it will most probably never be celebrated in Saudi Arabia.
“Unfortunately, we know about Valentine’s Day or Thanksgiving more than we know about such an important day, especially for Saudi women. We all know the dilemmas Saudi women go through on a daily basis,” she said, demanding more awareness for the rights of women.
However, a school principal at a governmental school who requested anonymity said that in order to raise awareness for this day, schools should work hand in hand with governmental bodies to create an event everyone would participate in.
“I used to be a history teacher and I never heard about the event. It’s unfortunate, I know, but I would really like my students and all schools to learn about it,” she said.
“For so many years women played their part in history and in Saudi Arabia women are developing and coming out of their shells,” she added.
Thousands of events occur each year to honor the women of the past, to celebrate the women of today, and to prepare for the daughters of tomorrow.
What will Saudi Arabia do in order to be part of this celebration and when will it give full recognition to women?
Comments
SARA AL-SHAIKH
Mar 8, 2010 07:45
Report abuseWAHIDA
Mar 8, 2010 16:50
Report abuseNOEL FRANK/JEDDAH
Mar 8, 2010 17:34
Report abuseBesides allowing the women to drive, nor eat alone at the restaurant or go abroad for studies or business will solve the problem. To give a simple exampel, India is a country where, women can drive, eat alone at the restaurant or go aborad for studies for business. But in reality it is not so. While the sons are studying in colleges/universities in US or UK and boasting about thier social lives, the daughters are sent to the local colleges, under the watchful eyes of the parents.(Barring exceptions)
As it is rightly said in the first line, that the heaven is under the feet of the mother ( woman), it is she alone, who has the power to give rights to the women and not anybody else.
IMRAN
Mar 8, 2010 17:35
Report abuseSARA AL-SHAIKH
Mar 8, 2010 20:20
Report abuse