Saudi Arabia
Saudi feminism: Between Mama Amreeka and Baba Abdullah
On 9 May 2012, Manal al-Sharif was awardedthe Havel Prize for Creative Dissent at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. This came shortly after al-Sharif was honored as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World at a Gala in New York City. Such events have given rise to a pattern: just as numerous pictures and videos of activists attending various conferences and receiving numerous awards surface, waves of criticism pour in. Their motives are viewed with suspicion, worthiness is questioned, and a movement’s progress is reassessed.
Read the full article at jadaliyya.com
Saudis split on admitting women into Islamic police
Saudi people have been split on government plans to break a long-standing ban and allow women to join the Gulf Kingdom’s feared religious police, with one branding women as troublesome and anther calling for dismantling that force.
Saudi Arabia says no to women Olympians
Less than three months after Saudi Arabia said it would permit women to participate in the London 2012 Olympic Games, it has reportedly reneged on their agreement, barring women from entering the Games.
Saudi female athletes challenge Muslim norms
Behind concrete walls and out of sight of men, Saudi women wearing shorts and short-sleeve shirts meet three times a week to play soccer in an all-female club in Saudi Arabia's port city of Jeddah. Cheering them on is Jeddah King's United coach and striker Reema Abdullah, who also is leading a campaign in the ultra-conservative Muslim country to allow women to participate in sports and compete internationally.
Saudi has one divorce every half hour
Saudi Arabia has an average one divorce case every half an hour, one of the highest rates in the world, and experts blame the contractual Misyar marriage for the problem.
In 2010, the Gulf Kingdom recorded 18,765 divorces, a rate of more than 35 per cent of the marriages, according to official statistics.
“This is far above the international rate of between 18 and 22 per cent…in some years, it exceeded 40 per cent in the Kingdom,” said Sheikh Saeed Al Yousuf, head of courts in the northeastern Saudi town of Tabuk.
Hiring female shop attendants in Saudi raises profits, reduces returns
One month after responding to calls for hiring female shop attendants at women’s wear stores, Saudi investors in the field met to assess the outcome of the change. In a meeting held at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, Saudi businessmen working in women’s clothing found that replacing male shop attendants with female ones, especially in lingerie stores, has had many positive results, the Saudi newspaper al-Eqtisadiah reported. According to businessmen, profits increased by 5-10 percent since women replaced men with many female customers are no longer embarrassed to buy clothes and lingerie as they were when shop attendants were female.
Women Drivers in Saudi: A Shift in Strategy
The campaign for women driving has slowed down almost to a halt since the big push last June, but the issue is now making a comeback as activists seek a different route. On Saturday, two women filed lawsuits against the government for refusing to issue them driver’s licenses and banning them from driving a car.
Read more in the blogpost by Ahmed-Al-Omran at mideastposts.com
Saudi Arabia to allow women into sports stadiums
Women in Saudi Arabia will have the chance to watch football matches and other sport events directly for the first time in the conservative Moslem Gulf Kingdom when a decision allowing them in is enforced within two years(...), writes emirates247.com.
Saudi princess reprimanded over her progressive image
Princess Ameera Al-Taweel, the wife of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, is a highly active, visible and, very avant-garde in terms of her appearance, women’s rights and public participation. And for that she last week received a public reprimand from her highly conservative her brother in-law, Prince Khalid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz. Columnist Anushay Hossain in Forbes magazine comments on the reprimand as an expression of the general Saudi view on women as property and her hopes that the princess will carry on as a role model for Saudi wome.
Minister promises increased job opportunities for Saudi women
Selling lingerie should not be the only or one of only few options for Saudi women who want to make use of their education and contribute to their society by taking on a paid job. The Saudi Labor Minister Adel Fakeih yesterday announced plans to establish 50 job centers for women across the Kingdom. He mentioned that new jobs suitable for women will be created in the public as well as in the private sector.