The decision was met with anger and frustration as Saudi women felt left out of the wave of freedom sweeping the Middle East. As I was researching for information about the current state of Saudi women, I came across a great blog by Mona Kareem, in her blog she outlined the Saudi Women Revolution Statement. You can also follow Mona on Twitter: @monakareem
The statement demands the abolition of Male Guardianship (among other things), which does not allow a women to travel, drive, apply for a job, receive an education, marry or divorce, attend school or open a bank account without a male escort!!! Can you imagine such a life ?! I can't.
I remember protesting for women's right to vote in Kuwait in 2005, so many people told me it would never happen, it was too soon, people weren't ready (the same shit they are telling Saudi women now). We protested anyway, we fought even though we knew that the fight wasn't fair and we won. We now have the right to vote and women in Parliament.
I must be realistic though, women in Saudi Arabia had much less rights and freedoms than Kuwaiti women had before they got the right to vote. So the fight that Saudi women have to fight has much more challenges than the one I had to fight, but I still believe that Saudi women have a chance. The women of Saudi Arabia must unite on a massive scale and defy all the laws, they should start driving and doing other things alone. I'm sure some of the women who defy Saudi law will be prosecuted, but I am sad to say that sacrifices must be made to gain freedom. This is something we have witnessed from Tunisia to Libya to Yemen to Bahrain and Syria. Freedom is not free...
My thoughts and prayers are with Saudi women right now, hoping they can rise up and show the world how much they have to offer!
You know, we need to tell them what are their rights first, so they can ask for them !
ReplyDeletei agree they need to be better informed on they rights they already have, as few as they may be
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