More Saudi women join the workforce, but limits remain strict
They are challenging sex segregation, taking jobs in education, medicine, and banking.
from the April 24, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
A sheikh at a government religious affairs office in Riyadh, who asks that his name not be used, says that he intends to fight expanded opportunities for women tooth and nail. "Allowing men and women to work together sows the seeds of destruction in any society. There's already too many of these imported and un-Islamic ideas here. We're the only place on earth where real Islamic law is applied, and that's non-negotiable."
Even so, there are experiments getting women into the workplace. In Riyadh, there's a car dealership where women can shop for the car that will be piloted by their male drivers. Also in the Riyadh area, at least two factories, as part of a placement program involving a government-linked charity, have women working on assembly lines making light fixtures. But when full boxes are ready to go the warehouse, a bell goes off telling the women to cover their faces before male workers enter to take the finished products away.
Abeer al-Futi represents one path that is becoming common in the Kingdom. At 34, she's head of education at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Humanitarian City – a sprawling hospital complex where she whips around the campus in a custom golf cart. She says women now are getting more opportunities because past discrimination has worked in their favor.
After the first Gulf War, the presence of US women soldiers driving Humvees inspired a small group women to drive in Riyadh in a protest demanding more rights. Their effort backfired.
"It was a lot worse for us for a decade after that, " she recalls. "We need change, but it's got to be slowly and cautiously."
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