Saudi women push hard for basic rights

Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council (an Islamic advisory committee serving King Abdullah) has recently recommended that women be allowed to vote in general elections. The recommendation has been presented to the King and awaits approval.

Election commissioners and regional ministers, however, have expressed resistance to allowing women to participate in the upcoming round of voting, citing logistical problems with delaying the election to set up gender-segregated polling facilities. Municipal elections are scheduled for September 29.

In 2005, the Council had recommended that women be allowed to vote but authorities rejected the advisory ruling.

Women have protested the long-standing ban by arriving at voter registration stations and attempting to register. In some instances, protestors have been met with jeers and shouted slurs.

The Stream has covered activists’ social media efforts to change the law, including sharing first-hand accounts of the harassment some women faced when they attempted to register.

Currently, a Saudi women needs the permission of a male guardian (usually her husband or father) to travel, attend university, or work outside of the home.

Women in the country are also prohibited from driving a car, but an ongoing civil disobedience movement has tried to challenge the law. Activists in support of women’s right to drive organised earlier this year using the hashtag #Women2Drive.

Today on The Stream, Saudi women’s rights activist Manal Al Sharif will be joining the show via Skype to discuss ongoing efforts to secure women’s rights to vote and drive in the kingdom.

These are some of the social media elements featured in this episode of The Stream.