A member of the Al-Shura Council (the Saudi equivalent to the U.S. Congress) recently gave a lecture elaborating on the political, social, and economic reforms in development in Saudi Arabia today. Osama bin Mohammed Al-Kurdi, a prominent Saudi leader, stated the following on the progress of women’s rights in the country:
“…we have started to create the legal environment in which women can be parties of, and that is already happening. Resolution 120, in my opinion, is the single most important set in formalizing women’s empowerment in Saudi Arabia. Resolution 120 was issued by the government about two and half years ago; it basically establishes the very first women right’s group—the Women’s Committee—and it requires the creation of similar committees in different regions in Saudi Arabia; it addresses the issue of women in business. There are very many women-owned businesses in Saudi Arabia and the resolution makes it formal, makes it easier for women to obtain their business licenses…”
Al-Kurdi painted a picture of a virtually democratic Saudi Arabia, dedicated to righting a history of wrongdoing towards women, yet he remained unable to give any hard statistics on the progress of their work. Indeed, while Resolution 120 does try to aid the licensing process for women’s businesses, the obstacles the women face are facets of the subjugation ingrained in their religion and society.
In April 2008, the Human Rights Watch released a comprehensive report detailing the daily realities Saudi women weather in education, employment, and equality, among others. The report “Perpetual Minors” stated the following about Resolution 120:
“In 2005 the Council of Ministers passed Resolution 120 aimed at expanding employment opportunities for women. Section 8 of the resolution stipulates that only Saudi women would be allowed to work in shops for women’s products. However, opposition from influential religious authorities hostile to women’s participation in the public space is said to have blocked these efforts… As the government did not establish any implementing authority to execute the resolution, the resolution was never put into practice.”
Al-Shura councilmen and lawmakers laud Resolution 120 as the answer to centuries of oppression for women, yet their failure to implement the motion has rendered the resolution all but meaningless. Many employers continue to require women to bring written permission from a male guardian to be eligible for work; other companies are loath to hire females because of the transportation problem, as women still are not allowed to drive. The Saudi’s blanket acceptance of Sharia law virtually guarantees that these problems will remain a permanent fixture of the kingdom, for under that religious system of governance, women remain ‘perpetual minors.’
Rachel Paulk is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
