Twelve things women in Saudi Arabia can't do

Saudi Arabia's religious police have ejected a woman from a shopping centre for not covering her hands and sitting "too close" to a man.
Although she was dressed in a traditional black abaya cloak and a full face veil, with only her hands and eyes exposed, the woman was stopped at the door by an officer from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
He argued that the shopper looked "indecent" and should put on gloves or go home, Gulf News reports. The incident occurred in the northern city of Ha'il and a recording of the altercation has since gone viral, sparking a mixed response within the deeply conservative Muslim nation.
"I wonder how this woman will feel once she goes home and realises fully the depth of the humiliation and disgrace," said Abdullah Al Otaibi, who argued that she should have known better than to defy the dress code.
But others condemned the officer's treatment of the woman. "Which religion allows people to feel superior to others and treat them with disdain and contempt?" asked Mashhour Al Harithi.
Saudi Arabia has an abysmal human rights record, particularly with regards to protecting women. Although in recent years the rights of women have been incrementally extended – they were allowed to vote in local elections, for example – their actions are still severely restricted.
In a country where a woman cannot open a bank account without her husband's permission, here are several other things women in Saudi Arabia are still unable to do:
Go anywhere without a male chaperone
When leaving the house, Saudi women need to be accompanied by a 'mahram' who is usually a male relative. Such practices are rooted in "conservative traditions and religious views that hold giving freedom of movement to women would make them vulnerable to sins," according to The Guardian.
In one extreme case, a teenager reported that she had been gang-raped, but because she was not with a mahram when it occurred, she was punished by the court. The victim, known as "the Girl of Qatif' was given more lashes than one of her alleged rapists received, the Washington Post reports.
Wear clothes or make-up that "show off their beauty"
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia passed a controversial law requiring all female television presenters to adhere to a mandatory Islamic dress code, including wearing an abaya and scarf. The king's advisory body, the Shoura Council, ruled that the women should wear "modest" clothes that do not "show off their beauty", according to Arab News.
The motion was tabled by a woman, Noura Al-Odwan who had previously criticised female presenters for wearing too much make-up. She argues that their appearance has a negative impact on the country's reputation.
The move has prompted mixed reaction in the Muslim nation, with some arguing that the Shura should be focusing on more important issues, while others saying that women should be banned from appearing on television altogether. "They should not use women as a commodity to attract more viewers," wrote one blogger.
Drive a car
There is no official law that bans women from driving but deeply held religious beliefs prohibit it, with Saudi clerics arguing that female drivers "undermine social values".
In 2011 a group of Saudi women organised the "Women2Drive" campaign which encouraged women to disregard the laws and post images and videos of themselves driving on social media to raise awareness of the issue in an attempt to force change. It was not a major success.
Saudi journalist Talal Alharbi says women should be allowed to drive – but only to take their children to school or a family member to hospital. "Women should accept simple things", he writes for Arab News. "This is a wise thing women could do at this stage. Being stubborn won't support their cause."
Vote in elections
Saudi Arabia is the only other country in the world, apart from the Vatican City where women are not allowed to vote, but men are, the Washington Post reports. However, a royal decree will allow women to vote in local elections in 2015.
Go for a swim
Reuters correspondent Arlene Getz describes her experience of trying to use the gym and pool at an upmarket Riyadh hotel: "As a woman, I wasn't even allowed to look at them ('there are men in swimsuits there,' a hotel staffer told me with horror) — let alone use them."
Compete freely in sports
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia proposed hosting an Olympic Games without women. "Our society can be very conservative," said Prince Fahad bin Jalawi al-Saud, a consultant to the Saudi Olympic Committee. "It has a hard time accepting that women can compete in sports."
When Saudi Arabia sent its female athletes to the London games for the first time, hard-line clerics denounced the women as "prostitutes". While they were allowed to compete, they had to be accompanied by a male guardian and wear a "Sharia-compliant" sports kit that covered their hair.
Try on clothes when shopping
"The mere thought of a disrobed woman behind a dressing-room door is apparently too much for men to handle," says Vanity Fair writer Maureen Dowd in 'A Girl's Guide to Saudi Arabia'.
Other more unusual restrictions include:
Entering a cemetery
Reading an uncensored fashion magazine
Buying a Barbie
However, explains Dowd, everything in Saudi Arabia "operates on a sliding scale, depending on who you are, whom you know, whom you ask, whom you're with, and where you are".
But things are slowly beginning to modernise in a country that has historically had some of the most repressive attitudes towards women.  "Women in Saudi Arabia are highly educated and qualified," says Rothna Begum from Human Right Watch. "They don’t want to be left in the dark."


Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/60339/twelve-things-women-in-saudi-arabia-cant-do#ixzz3bZfu8XWC