| Comes as a surprise, huh? |
"We don't want to be American wannabes."
| "We like being breeding stock!" |
Women have been denied the vote in Saudi Arabia's coming elections, Ed O'Loughlin reports from Jeddah.
WHEN Saudi Arabia holds its first nationwide elections, scheduled to begin on February 10 around the capital, Riyadh, most of its university graduates will not take part. Last month the Saudi Government announced that, contrary to earlier indications, women would not be allowed to vote or stand for election to municipal councils that are being touted as the absolute monarchy's first steps towards representative government. The decision comes as a blow to women who - despite holding more university degrees than their male counterparts - remain in effect little more than the property of their husbands or nearest male relative. For Saudi women, voting is not just about reform but about basic human freedom. Legally they cannot work, travel or even get an ID card or passport without the consent of their male guardian - a category that could even include a younger brother or son. Strict dress codes and gender segregation weigh on them far more than men, and most professions and industries are officially forbidden to them - they are not even allowed to drive. Even within the family, their rights as wives and mothers are eroded by Saudi Arabia's interpretation of Muslim law, which restricts their inheritance rights and makes it easy for men to divorce them or - often much worse in practice - take up to three more wives. |