Oppression of women in KSA - Research Paper Example

Oppression of Women in KSA Numerous studies have shown that while women are the majority of humanity, they are the main victims of systematic sexual abuse, discrimination, and oppression. The oppression come in different dimensions including low pay compared to men, unpaid domestic labor, degraded treatment in society, sexual abuse, and being denied economic rights and other basic democratic rights (Treillet para2). Over the years, women in many parts of the world have been fighting for freedom from discrimination and oppression. It is worth noting that while in some parts of the world their efforts have yielded positive outcomes; other parts have yet to realize positive impact. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the countries in the world that records the highest level of women oppression. Majority of women in Saudi Arabia are subject to discrimination and oppression of various forms. The oppression denies them their economic and democratic rights, as well as denying them equal opportunity to realize their full potential. As such, women in this country are largely consigned almost entirely to their homes and do not engage in mainstream economic, social, and political activities in the name of protecting women’s modesty and virtue (Mallory on Travel para8). In order to have a better understanding of women oppression in Saudi Arabia, this paper will discuss how women are oppressed in the country. Like in many Muslim countries, human rights in Saudi Arabia are based on the Sharia law, the Islamic religious laws. The Saudi legal system and the government of Saudi Arabia are founded on the principles of the Sharia law, which is under Saudi Royal family. Despite ratifying various international conventions that are aimed at protecting human rights including the International Convention against Torture, Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its treatment of women, political and religious minorities, apostates, and homosexuals and how it ignores those violations especially among women (Al-Bahrani para2). In particular, women in Saudi Arabia have been facing oppression of huge magnitude that denies them their economic and democratic rights. They face discrimination and oppression in numerous aspects of their lives including the justice system (Treillet para2). The extent and degree of oppression is evidenced by the fact that women constitute about 5 percent of Saudi Arabia workforce despite constituting about 70 percent of students enrolled in universities. The rates of literacy rates between males and females still compares unfavorably, with literacy rates in males standing at 84.7 percent and 70.8 percent for females. Also, the situation is reflected by the rare sight of powerful businesswomen in the country. This situation is attributed to the belief held by men in the country that the place of women is at home caring for their family and husband (Ksenia para4). Unlike in many countries that have respect for the autonomy and rights of women, Saudi Arabia has low respect for the rights of women and their autonomy to do what they believe is right and good for them. Saudi Arabia’s guardianship laws require that women should gain permission from adult son, husband, or father for many of daily activities (Maktabi and Elwazer para2). Women cannot even take a paid job without gaining permission from a male guardian. CNN reported of Samar Badawi incidence, Badawi is a 30-year-old mother of one who served a seven-months jail because of disobeying her father. Badawi’s father physically abused her since she was 14 years old, but she decided to run away from their home when she was in at the age of 25. This prompted her father to bring a disobedience case against her because she had refused to return home (Maktabi and Elwazer para5). This is a good example of how the Saudi Arabia’s laws are designed to oppress women and in the process deny them their economic and democratic rights. It is no doubt that the issue of women rights in Saudi Arabia is a hot one and that which elicit surprising range of views from both men and women. Apart from the guardianship laws that are oppressive to women, women are not allowed to drive (Al-Bahrani para3). This issue has grabbed international and local headlines in recent years and there has been a call to challenge the law that prohibits women from driving. The official legislation on driving ban for women in Saudi Arabia was introduced in 1990. The Saudi Royal family introduced this legislation after 47 women drove cars in Riyadh, Saudi capital. Those who disobey this legislation face the possibility of corporal punishment. This form of oppression and discrimination is complicated by the fact that the members of Saudi royal family and Saudi women aristocrats, who constitute 1 percent of the population, can drive their cars in Europe or United States. The driving ban is founded on the Wahhabi decrees, which consider the liberty of driving by women as a violation to Saudi-Wahhabi social norms. What is worse is that women are not allowed to ride a car as a passenger without accompanying a male relative (Al-Bahrani para3). The nature of women oppression in Saudi Arabia is further demonstrated by the fact that women and girls in the country are restricted from doing any sports including playing sports in schools. This restriction has been justified by the representative of the official Supreme Council of Religious Scholars, Sheikh Abdulla Al-Manaeea, who insisted in 2009 that sports should be restricted because they might result to girls losing their virginity (Al-Bahrani para5). The local authority also seems to assume that allowing women to drive will give women too much independence (Mallory on Travel para11). Oppression of women in Saudi Arabia is also demonstrated by how they are restricted in the workplace. Apart from receiving permission from their husbands in order to work, women are mostly allowed to work either in healthcare or in education, where they will not be in a position to interact with men. Their communication with women is restricted as Saudi women are only allowed to communicate with male relatives, that is, their family members (Ksenia para5). What is evidently clear is that men in Saudi Arabia are not used to dealing with who are free and independent (Ksenia para4). Most of them are actually not comfortable with the idea of feminism in the country and are keen to ensuring that status quo is maintained and that Saudi women play by the rules of Wahhabi decrees. Saudi women play a leading role at home but they can hardly breathe outside their homes without their husbands’ permission (Al-Bahrani para3). The situation is so bad such that a Saudi woman can literally not exist without a man. This is because her daily activities largely depend on a man; she depends on a man for basic needs and on basic rights such as the right to work and even travel. In some instances, women are forced to share and discuss delicate and intimate issues and things with male strangers. Recently, a group of women urged their counterparts to boycott underwear stores because they were concerned by the fact that only women were allowed to work in those stores that sell lingerie for women. Due to highly unacceptable extent of oppression of women in Saudi Arabia, there have been intensified calls for reform in the country. The calls for reform seek to challenge the political status quo of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that has been accused of widely perpetuating women oppression (Coleman para1). Both the international and local women activists and groups have been pushing the government to respond to calls o according women more economic and democratic rights. These groups have recognized the need to empower women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a means of liberating them from oppression of Saudi-Wahhabi government (Al-Bahrani para8). The efforts to liberate women from the oppressive laws and regulations have increased in recent years. For example, a female against the driving ban dared to drive and filmed her test drive and later uploaded the video on the internet urging other women in Saudi Arabia to follow her example and drive (Knesia para2). Women activists in the greater Middle East including in Saudi Arabia are working within the tenets of Islam to create educational, political, and economic opportunities for women in a bid to reduce women oppression. These activities of these activists are informed by the view that it is only through such tenet that women are going to be empowered and enjoy more economic and democratic rights critical in helping them realize their potential (Coleman para5). In addition, these activities are informed by the view that it is only by working within the tenets of Islam that the Islamic society will embrace women empowerment with little resistance. They promote Islamic feminism, which support the rights of women through Islamic discourse and refutes sexist interpretations of the Islamic law and Quran (Middle East Quarterly para8). These efforts are critical in bridging the conflict between those who are championing for reforms and those that are seeking to oppress women using religious tradition. There is a consensus by the majority of Islamic feminists that at its core, Islam is not only progressive for women, but also supports equal opportunities for women and men alike. It is against this background that they believe that by arguing the rights of women within an Islamic discourse, women empowerment efforts would be sustainable and culturally acceptable. This is critical in expanding opportunities for women even within religiously and culturally conservative Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia (Coleman para1). Empowerment of Muslim women in countries such as Saudi Arabia should not be imposed from outside; instead, women and men within such conservative societies need to find their own reasons and justifications to allow women to have an enhanced role in the society. These reasons are found within the Islam religion itself. Women activists advocating for women empowerment in Saudi Arabia argue that Islamic law has evolved in ways inimical to women, and not because of any inevitability, but due to selective interpretation by patriarchal religious scholars and leaders. They thus argue that the worst practices towards women are indeed a subversion of Islamic teaching by tribal traditions and customs. These activists are thus seeking to revive the quality bestowed upon women in the religion’s early years by putting Quran texts in historical context and disentangling them from local traditions and tribal practices (Coleman para7). Women oppression in Saudi Arabia seems to have no limits. It is worth noting that it is difficult to overcome the Saudi laws and norms that are oppressive to women because they constitute the official laws and regulations of the Kingdom. These laws and regulations are based on religious decrees- Wahhabi. Historically, efforts to empower women have suffered because of their long association with secularism, colonialism, and capitalism (Treillet para3). Women empowerment efforts have often been perceived as cultural meddling particularly by political Islamists who have portrayed the rights of women as un-Islamic and corrupting. Islamic movements have depicted women’s political freedoms and economic and social problems as well, as sowing seeds of cultural and social corruption in the Muslim world (Coleman para11). For many of them, empowerment of women represents a slippery slope towards godless secularism and Western moral decadence. It is on these grounds that some tribal and religious leaders are resisting women empowerment and successfully guarded against unequal laws between men and women (Middle East Quarterly para9). Conclusion It is evidently clear that women oppression in the Muslim countries and particularly in Saudi Arabia is widespread. In Saudi Arabia, women have been subject of oppression and systematic discrimination. As a result, they have been consigned almost entirely to their homes and denied economic rights and basic democratic rights. This has made them unable to realize their full potential and participate in mainstream political and economic activities. Oppression of women in Saudi Arabia is greatly because of the Saudi tribal norms, which are based on Wahhabi decrees and that constitute the official regulations and laws of the Kingdom. As has been noted, there have been efforts by Islamic feminists to reduce women oppression through tenets of Islam that create educational, political, and economic opportunities for women. The activists involved in these efforts believe that at its core, Islam is not only progressive for women, but also supports equal opportunities for women and men alike. Works Cited Al-Bahrani, Yusur. Saudi Women’s Day. 2012. Web. 18 Nov, 2012. Coleman, Isobel. Women, Islam, and the Push for Reform in the Muslim World. 2011. Web. 18 Nov, 2012. Ksenia, Obraztsova. Muslim Women: Oppressed and Happy. 2011. Web. 18 Nov, 2012. Maktabi, Rima and Elwazer Schams. Saudi Women: Pampered or Oppressed? 2012. Web. 18 Nov 2012. Mallory on Travel. Restrictions on Saudi Women- Culture or Oppression. 2012. Web. 18 Nov, 2012. Middle East Quarterly. The Rights of Muslim Women. 2012. Web. 18 Nov, 2012. Treillet, Stephanie. Women’s Oppression in Globalization. 2012. Web. 18 Nov, 2012. Read More