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Saudi women still face major challenges despite moderate reforms
7-3-2018
Notwithstanding the Royal Order issued last September by Saudi King Salman Bin Abdel Aziz which allowed women to drive for the first time in the Kingdom and which comes as part of a series of reforms involving women ( https://goo.gl/3mtgBJ), yet the backlash faced by females shows that the recent empowerment measures could be reprehensible in a country unaccustomed to seeing women on the front lines. On the subject, Mirvat Bukhari (43-year-old mother of 4) who is draped head-to-toe in Islamic attire told Agence France Presse that she defied insults and name calling to become promoted as supervisor of a gas station in Al Khobar city east of the Kingdom last October. Bukhari said she was forced to defend herself by telling those who criticized her work that she was in management and not filling gas herself. For her part, researcher at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, Karen Young, told AFP that Saudi women are better educated but are less mobile, have fewer employment prospects, and are underpaid. The average monthly salaries in the private sector is nearly 8,000 Riyals (USD 2134) against only 5,000 Riyals for women, Young said, citing Jadwa research firm figures. To recall, Saudi Arabia was placed 138 out of 144 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2017 on gender parity published by the World Economic Forum. (An Nahar, March 7, 2018)
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