JEDDAH, 7 June 2004 — Women have high expectations of the national dialogue forum on women’s issues scheduled next week in Madinah, but they want to see concrete results.
“Many women have made recommendations for what needs to be discussed, which indicates the high level of awareness among women in our society,” said Jowhara Al-Angari, the director of Eman Cancer Society and a participant in the last forum.
Saudi women are not asking for anything that is against Islam, she stresses. “You should not allow something that is forbidden, but equally you should not forbid something that is allowed in Islam, and there are many things that are being forbidden even though they are allowed in Islam. Perhaps they have been ignored or misunderstood; in any case it’s time women asked for their rights,” she said.
Doing away with the need for a wakeel or male guardian in almost every aspect of a woman’s life is high on the list of matters she wants to see addressed.
Other focal points could include laws governing divorce, custody, alimony and domestic abuse, as well as civil right regulations.
Al-Anqari hopes to see the whole range of women’s issues tackled, whether economic, social, religious or legal. “I hope it will be as balanced and diverse as the previous one,” she said. “We all want what is good for our country and that cannot be achieved if some of its citizens are oppressed.”
The June 12-14 forum will be structured around 18 research papers focusing on women’s rights and duties. Seventy academics, thinkers and journalists including 30 women from all over the Kingdom have been invited to take part in the forum.
According to Faisal Muammar, secretary-general of the King Abdul Aziz National Dialogue Center, the forum will focus on four broad topics: Women’s rights and duties; women and society; women and work; and women and education.
Two subjects come together under the rights and duties umbrella: Giving women their Shariah and civil rights, and the difference between tradition and religion.
Under women and society, the focus will be on problems like abuse and poverty and improving the social services provided for women.
A number of the problems to be discussed are not “women’s issues” but rather society’s issues and men play a major role in causing and perpetuating them.
“It’s great that an equal number of men and women are participating in order for them to exchange views openly and make recommendations representing both genders,” said Najla Said, a teacher. “I think this forum will benefit men as much as women because it can educate them on how to treat women according to Islamic principles,” she said.
According to Nora Abdullah, a housewife, the forum could also teach men about “their duties and obligations toward women and hopefully convince them to allow women a bigger role in society and more independence.”
“I think this is a good step toward advancing dialogue on women’s issues,” said Dr. Amira Kashgary, a professor of sociology and also a participant in the second dialogue forum.
She is particularly pleased that there is a representative number of women involved this time. Her only complaint is that the forum will have only three days, instead of five as at the previous forums, to discuss all the issues before it.
“The issues are important and necessary,” she said. “However, it is important that the recommendations are actually implemented,” she said.
