Human Rights, Page 46

Speaker Addresses Misconceptions About Saudi Women

Dr. Mona AlMunajjed discusses Saudi Arabian women. (Staff photo D. Hanley)

THE MIDDLE EAST Institute in Washington, DC hosted an Oct. 20 discussion by Saudi sociologist Dr. Mona AlMunajjed on the status of women in Saudi Arabia. Dr. AlMunajjed, a senior adviser to the global consulting firm Booz and Company in Riyadh, addressed the question of legal rights, education and employment opportunities for Saudi women. AlMunajjed, who writes for magazines throughout the Arab world and is the author of three books—Women in Saudi Arabia Today; Significance of Arabic Names for Girls in the Arab World; and Saudi Women Speak—was fearless as she tackled this sensitive subject so loaded with misunderstanding.

Western countries have a distorted view that Saudi women lack freedom, Dr. AlMunajjed began, but “this negative image is outdated.” Saudi women wear a hijab and may not drive, but the other negative misconceptions are holdovers from the 19th century Orientalists. On the contrary, she argued, her country’s educational and segregational system, driving restrictions and religion are not obstacles to positive development. AlMunajjed followed up with a general overview of the gradual steps Saudi women have taken toward empowerment through education and employment. Islam, she pointed out, helped establish legal rights for women to own and manage their own assets, as well as funds from inheritance, divorce and work.

While Saudi women comprise only 14.4 percent of the labor force, they have more than 40 percent of all bank accounts, she noted. In fact, Dr. AlMunajjed added, women in Saudi Arabia are financial powerhouses and control $16 billion in banks inside the Kingdom.

Women are gradually overcoming the challenges and constraints caused by local customs or conservative religious interpretations, she emphasized. The Kingdom is also using dialogue to balance its rich heritage with new realities. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has stressed interfaith dialogue and built the King AbdulAziz Center for National Dialogue in Riyadh to encourage debate about social challenges. The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the first mixed-sex university in Saudi Arabia, also will help modernize the Kingdom, Dr. Munajjed predicted.

Change is coming gradually to Saudi Arabian society, Dr. Munajjed reiterated. If change is imposed from the outside, she warned, there could be an explosion. Saudi Arabians want to preserve their values and traditions as they blend ideas from the modern world.

—Delinda C. Hanley