Arab News has encouraged the participation of women in our nation’s progress and development and has been a great force influencing change, paving the way for activists and civil society to revise women’s marginalized status.

The newspaper has taken advantage of the expanded freedom of the press to address the discrimination against working women in the public and private sectors and has been mounting pressure on the government to implement reforms that would empower women in our society. Prolific writers consistently voice their concerns and strive to expose social norms that deny women justice and bar their progress.

Arab News also helps women gain more respect at home and abroad by profiling successful and professional women who contribute to the progress and welfare of the country. Daily reports cover women’s achievements in business and in other professions, such as doctors, nurses, scientists, academics, bankers, IT specialists, artists and leading women both in the government and private sectors.

The fact that Arab News is an English language paper in an Arab country has not made it less supportive of women’s issues; on the contrary, its coverage is even more effective than some of the Arabic dailies in exposing the mistakes against women that have accumulated as a result of the influence of hard-liners with incorrect interpretations of Islamic concepts and the dominance of some decision makers in the past, who used distorted Islamic interpretations to support their baseless ideas. The excellent opinion pieces and eloquent analyses of women’s needs and concerns advance change in the mindsets of many who once resisted change and insisted that women should remain inside their homes and on the sidelines of our economy.

Eloquent columnists have been very effective in urging decision makers to confront current challenges and accelerate reforms. They call for new laws and regulations that can serve working women, such as maternity leave, working hours, on-site nurseries and equal pay to ease the integration of women into the work force.

Many bold articles also called for new policies to eliminate extremist religious practices that oppose the modernization of Saudi society, including the opposition to women driving; the reluctance to vote for women in the chambers of commerce elections; the strict culture of segregation within the society; the niqab, which compromises the level of efficiency and professionalism of women’s careers; the discrimination policies at the workplace; and underestimating women’s business abilities.

The green paper engages Islamic scholars and encourages public debate to articulate Islam’s position on women to lead  society  on the right track. Opinion leaders portray scientific, moderate Islamic and international trends that honor women and respect their rights to enable them to become engines for change and development.

The English-language daily conducts successful campaigns instrumental in influencing change and introduced progressive thinking, mainly the campaign highlighting the efforts of the human rights society in defending women’s rights, and the campaign projecting the role of the National Dialogue Center initiating the debate over the many obstacles that stand in the way of women’s participation in government and management positions. The campaign also acknowledged that women’s success in business should be highly commended. The Arab News Top 20 Businesswomen list is a very powerful endorsement of the existing companies that are successfully run by women, and it provides an evidence for all of women’s contributions to the Saudi economy. It demonstrates the importance of businesswomen; moreover, the Green Truth led the campaign calling for a codified system to reprimand judges who build cases without Shariah guidelines, so as to ensure a uniform application of Shariah laws. The local pages and the opinion pieces are very critical of the controversial interpretations of some judges and exposed injustices in cases of child marriages, sexual abuse, child custody and divorce on grounds of social or racial status.

Arab News promotes the activities of civil society, which adopts the causes of women who suffer from discrimination, such as the cases of Rania Al-Baz, Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani, the Qatif girl, Yara in Starbucks and many other cases of social injustice and domestic abuse. The paper has also reported the opinion of human rights advocates who were critical of prison conditions, exaggerated jail terms and flogging of women.

Arab News journalists and writers have adopted other challenges that still remain, mainly to include women in the decision-making process and to eliminate laws governing legal guardianship, the exclusion of women from the Shoura Council and the ban on women standing for municipal elections.

In conclusion we cannot deny that the road to progress is not easy, and women have a long way to go to achieve their desired goals. However, the dedicated reporters and opinion leaders of Arab News will continue to address the many challenges that exist in order to help our young, talented women to fulfill their dreams and aspirations.

— Samar Fatany is a radio broadcaster.