Noora bint Abdulaziz Al-Shaikh, director women’s wing at the Ministry of Social Affairs in Makkah region and a former dean of a university, came down heavily against the denial of legitimate rights to women by families in various areas including property issues under some pretext or the other.
Delivering the keynote address at a forum in King Abdulaziz University, Al-Shaikh said the male society in the Kingdom was totally dominant and was denying basic family rights to Saudi women, when in fact they were shouldering the responsibility of family disorder without it being their fault.
“Women should be given due status in family matters,” she said.
Women are subjected to denial of their due and legitimate share by their fathers and brothers in the family citing various reasons and traditions, she said.
“This needs to be changed,” she said, adding that even basic rights in property matters were being denied to women under the pretext of family maintenance.
She said that daughters are not taken into consideration in inheritance of property matters, particularly when it comes to agriculture lands and farms.
“Women are victims of domestic violence, physical assault, psychological tension and sexual harassment in the Kingdom,” she said.
Stating that it was an “unequal and unhealthy” trend that prevails in families ultimately affecting the girl child in the Kingdom, she said: “Parents mostly favor sons over daughters in all aspects and that is one of the prime reasons for the denial of her rightful share.”
She asked why only daughters are held responsible for the pains of family disorder, be it death of a parent, imprisonment or any other reason.
Family disorder and violence has compelled several women to flee home and take refuge at shelter homes, she said.
She urged the Saudi society to pay attention toward family matters and maintain gender equality both within and outside the house, besides recognizing the integrity of women.
Denial of rights to women condemned
