Social change requires the implementation of a new system that comes with the change to meet a society's needs. Saudi Arabia has undergone some changes. Women started contributing to the cycle of development by going out to work. Women became unsatisfied with the basic family role of only being mothers, although this is an important role with far-reaching effects.
When women started working, the change wasn't generally a positive one. Women created a source of income for themselves, achieved financial independence and reached a position wherein they were able to share the family responsibilities. The beauty of this change in a woman's financial capabilities was embraced and accepted by the private sector. With greater confidence and trust, banks and installment companies began giving loans to women under the same conditions that men are granted such loans.
However, the public sector including the Real Estate Bank does not give women their due share. They don't get loans unless they are divorced or widowed. I don't want to pose the question whether divorce is a form of guarantee that a woman will pay her loan back. Don't women have a right to benefit from their country's wealth regardless of their condition? Or must she undergo a catastrophe to be entitled to do so?
I know many women who have a higher income than men and can easily repay loans. These women desire to build homes for their children using real estate loans. Why are they deprived of this privilege? I believe women have every right to get loans just as men.
The experience of women in the private sector has proved their adequacy and their parity with men. Giving loans to women who are financially capable to pay back regardless of their social or marital status could greatly help eliminate the real estate crisis. Women have every right to reap benefits from the facilities offered by the government.
Many women believe that denying them loans is unfair. One woman who was separated and estranged from her husband told me that her income is greater than her husband's but he lives in a property that they jointly own while she lives in a rented apartment.
The Real Estate Bank gave him a loan and he is abusing the bank's leniency in repaying by taking advantage of the loopholes in the system. On the other hand, the wife, who is capable of repaying her loan, is not entitled to one. Isn't this unfair and unjust?
I believe that thousands of women - doctors, teachers and other professionals - have the right to enjoy their country's wealth just like men, especially since there are no religious or social prohibitions in doing so.
