JEDDAH, 20 March 2007 — Saudi women highlighted yesterday the obstacles facing them in being economically productive members of the society.
During the final and third session of the first day of Khadija Bint Khuwailid Forum being held at the Jeddah Hilton Hotel, women participants spoke openly about their perceptions on improving their business participation for the betterment of the economy.
Their observations were supported by male participants as well as the speakers.
Mohammed Al-Mushawih, accredited Ministry of Justice consultant and judge, lawyer Adnan Al-Buraikan, and Farida Banany, professor of higher education, Faculty of Law in Morocco - speakers in the session - discussed the issue of women and development, and the law and regulations governing women’s employment with regards to Shariah.
In the first of three audience-participation polls, 55 percent said there are obstacles hindering the participation of women in development. According to Banany, these obstacles are related to tradition and culture, unsupportive families and husbands, lack of education and work experience and mixing between both sexes.
The second poll however showed that 79 percent believed having an agent is a proof of women’s iefficiency, while 21 said it is not related. The third poll asked if having an agent to do the women’s work is part of Shariah law, 85 percent voted no, yet 15 percent voted yes. (In Saudi Arabia, a women must have a male agent or representative to obtain the paperwork to start a business.)
“Doesn’t Saudi Arabia trust us enough to manage our own businesses without having to hire a manager who may misuse our trust, though we proved we could run more than one company in different fields?” one businesswoman asked. The Saudi labor rules and regulations have 245 articles but only 12 are related to women like childcare, breastfeeding and sick leaves. “It is missing a lot,” Al-Buraikan pointed out.
Nashwa Taher, board member of Al-Taher Group of Companies, ended the discussion by saying that God created us all in order to work and make the world prosperous.
