Saudi Arabia’s slow progress towards gender equality continued last week with the first two women in the country registering to vote in advance of December’s elections. According to Al Arabiya, one-third of Saudi polling stations will be dedicated to female voters.
This is also the first time that female candidates can stand for office, and approximately 70 women are intending to run. The promise of increased female participation in politics will hopefully move women another step closer to full participation in all aspects of Saudi life.
But the practicalities of how women will be able to stand for election or vote are a cause for concern. The kingdom’s hugely harmful male guardianship system means women are treated as children and hidden from view. Without a male companion, they won’t be able to leave their homes to register for the elections. The final decision-making power lies in the hands of their husbands – or, in some cases, their sons or other male family members. Until this severely discriminatory system is dismantled, participation in political life will remain extremely challenging.
Another obstacle to political participation is how women can physically reach a polling station in a country with limited public transportation. The Saudi government claims there is no legal provision banning women from driving. However, as highlighted in Equality Now’s global campaign to end all laws that discriminate against women, a 1990 fatwa, which is effectively treated as law, states that they cannot get a driver’s licence. Under this fatwa, allowing women to drive would supposedly be a “source of undeniable vices” and a means to allegedly commit haraam (taboo) acts.
Without freedom of movement, Saudi women face an uphill struggle. In some cases, those seeking to help Saudi women are harassed for doing so. In 2013, two leading female female activists, Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Oyouni, were convicted under sharia law for inciting a wife to defy the authority of her husband. They were sentenced to 10 months in prison and barred from leaving the country for two years.
Activists have wondered whether the sentencing was actually a response to efforts made by the pair to overturn the ban on women driving. In June, they were informed they could travel freely again, and neither had to spend time in prison.
The experience of these activists illustrates the enormous anxiety, human rights violations and unfair treatment that women in Saudi Arabia continue to endure.
Of the 142 countries included in the World Economic Forum’s gender equality index, Saudi Arabia is ranked 130 th, a little ahead of its neighbour Yemen, which comes last.
Equality Now has worked with female activists in Saudi Arabia for many years and on various fronts. This includes, in 2010, supporting Fatima, a 12-year-old girl who was sold by her father for approximately £7,000 (he bought himself a car with the money). Her buyer was a 50-year-old man who already had a wife and 10 children. Fatima endured severe physical and psychological trauma as a result of being sold into sexual slavery.
With the support of her uncle, we were able to help Fatima get a divorce in 2013. But we do not know how many more Saudi girls and women will have to endure such misery, with no law to protect them from abuse. Despite commitments made in 2013 to introduce a minimum age for marriage, Saudi Arabia appears to continue to allow legal child rape under the guise of “marriage”.
In this context, any movement towards gender equality is a step in the right direction. But the frustratingly slow place of change remains a major concern. As far back as 2004, Saudi officials said privately that they wanted women to be able to vote. It has taken more than 10 years to happen, and it will probably be several more for attitudes to change to support women in doing this.
Saudi Arabian women and girls urgently need quicker progress. The kingdom has made commitments on many fronts to improve their lot, and it now needs to follow through on its promises, for the benefit of all the country’s inhabitants.
- Suad Abu-Dayyeh is Middle East and North Africa consultant for Equality Now