Saudi Arabia launches girls' council - without any girls

[Indika]

Saudi Arabia launches girls' council - without any girls

• 14 March 2017
  
• From the sectionMiddle East

Share

Image copyrightQASSIM GIRLS COUNCIL
Image captionThere were a total of 13 men (not all pictured) on stage to launch the Qassim Girls Council in Saudi Arabia
It was an encouraging initiative for a country not known for giving women a platform in public life.

But when Saudi Arabia wanted to show off its inaugural girls' council in al-Qassim province, they overlooked one thing: the women.

Pictures released to mark the first Qassim Girls Council meeting showed 13 men on stage, and not a single female.

The women were apparently in another room, linked via video.

The male-dominated photos have been circulating widely on social media, after the meeting took place on Saturday.

It has been compared to another viral hit - an image of US President Donald Trump, surrounded by men, signing an abortion policy in January.

Image copyrightAFP
Image captionUS President Donald Trump signing the abortion-related order in the Oval Office
The Saudi launch was led by Prince Faisal bin Mishal bin Saud, the province's governor, who said he was proud of the conference and it was the first of its kind in the kingdom.

"In the Qassim region, we look at women as sisters to men, and we feel a responsibility to open up more and more opportunities that will serve the work of women and girls," he said.

The girls' council is chaired by Princess Abir bint Salman, his wife, who was not in the photograph.

In Saudi Arabia, a state policy of gender segregation between unrelated men and women is rigorously enforced.

But the country may be moving toward loosening some of its rules as part of its Vision 2030 programme.

Its goals included increasing women's participation in the workforce from 22% to 30%.

In his speech to launch the girls' council, Prince Faisal said women make up half of society, although looking at that picture, you would not know it.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39264349

 

[Pakistani E]

Indians seemed to be quite concerned about Arab women these days. @Saif al-Arab

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Indians seemed to be quite concerned about Arab women these days. @Saif al-Arab

This is a troll thread.

The thread starter is unaware of the fact that Al-Qassim is arguably the most conservative province/region of KSA and that women took part (which the article also mentions in fact but omits in the thread title) but in a separate room.

Meanwhile during the same time in another part of KSA (which is a country the size of Western Europe), Jeddah, you had men and women intermingling during a comic con, a Youtube fan fest (the first of its kind in the Middle East) in Jeddah and a few days ago you had music concerts in Riyadh.

That initiative (chaired by the governor's wife) is actually a good initiative which is ignored as it is easier to troll.

Anyway I agree that they should have pictured the women but since they were located in a women-only room they probably did not wear headscarfs as many Saudi Arabian women don't do in such a setting which would cause unwanted attention/controversy in a region such as Al-Qassim. I don't think that the intention was to belittle women if so they would never have kickstarted such a positive initiative in the first place.

 

[KediKesenFare3]

Why is Al-Qassim the most conservative province? Could you please explain? Any specific reason(s)? Are they poorer than the rest of Saudi Arabia?

 

[Pakistani E]

This is a troll thread.

The thread starter is unaware of the fact that Al-Qassim is arguably the most conservative province/region of KSA and that women took part (which the article also mentions in fact but omits in the thread title) but in a separate room.

Meanwhile during the same time in another part of KSA (which is a country the size of Western Europe), Jeddah, you had men and women intermingling during a comic con, a Youtube fan fest (the first of its kind in the Middle East) in Jeddah and a few days ago you had music concerts in Riyadh.

That initiative (chaired by the governor's wife) is actually a good initiative which is ignored as it is easier to troll.

Anyway I agree that they should have pictured the women but since they were located in a women-only room they probably did not wear headscarfs as many Saudi Arabian women don't do in such a setting which would cause unwanted attention/controversy in a region such as Al-Qassim. I don't think that the intention was to belittle women if so they would never have kickstarted such a positive initiative.

I know bro, even though I criticize Saudi a lot, I know the leadership is still going ahead with pushing through legitimate reforms, both economical and social. I support the people of Saudi Arabia and the government in all its' good measures.

The above step is good, but I tagged you because I know they keep opening up trolls threads. I had a choice of a few to choose from to read.

 

[Tamilnadu]

lol

 

[Saif al-Arab]

I know bro, even though I criticize Saudi a lot, I know the leadership is still going ahead with pushing through legitimate reforms, both economical and social. I support the people of Saudi Arabia and the government in all its' good measures.

The above step is good, but I tagged you because I know they keep opening up trolls threads. I had a choice of a few to choose from to read.

It is legitimate "criticism" in the eyes of the West (BBC/UK) as such issues are no longer relevant for them as the divide between the sexes is not as big as it once was. Given the lack of influence of religion in the UK (public sphere) and the fact that most British people are not religious let alone are guided by religious rituals/traditions/influences it can be hard to understand why adult men and women (almost always married) can sit in two separate rooms.

However among the vast majority of the youth in KSA (2/3 of the population) segregation is not really a big deal any longer expect for the conservative/religious lot.

In short most people in the world know little about cultures that are not their own and have a hard time understanding why things are as they are. Coupled with ignorance, an already shaped opinion due to media etc. and there is little room for serious discussion.

In any case I can tell you so much that people in KSA are not bothered with this. There are other areas where the majority disagrees such as the infamous 20-year old ban against women driving (de facto not de jure as such a law does not exist on paper - I have explained it a few times before).

Why is Al-Qassim the most conservative province? Could you please explain? Any specific reason(s)? Are they poorer than the rest of Saudi Arabia?

Al-Qassim is actually one of the richest areas of KSA.

Because it is a mostly rural/agricultural area of KSA (Al-Qassim is considered as one of the food baskets of KSA), it has a very long history of adhering to Hanbalism (the most conservative (IMO) of the 4 Sunni Muslim madahib), tribally aligned to the House of Saud and related tribes/clans, rather sparsely populated like much of Najd and with a long-established sense of autonomy.

One could say that people in Al-Qassim are often of a puritanical character valuing tradition, family ties and religion highly. In general this also shows in the infrastructure of the region which is well-developed, the cities are clean, lots of farms and people are generally hard-working and very well-coming as long as you show them respect.

It is also a bastion of Hanbalism as it is a region that people (within KSA) don't tend to migrate too but rather migrate out from. Hence the main cities in Al-Qassim not being as cosmopolitan as other main cities of KSA.

For instance a local dynasty (Al-Sulaim) is still ruling the city of Unaizah (known as the "Paris" of Najd) as per a 200 year old treaty signed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Sulaim

Within Al-Qassim Buraydah (the capital) is the "conservative" city while Unaizah is the more "liberal" one.

In a sense it is a bit ironical that one of the most famous atheists in KSA and one of the most vocal Arab atheists in the modern-era was from Buraydah.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_al-Qasemi



He is seen as a hero among many atheist Arabs btw.

 

[KediKesenFare3]

Very interesting. What do you mean by "tribally aligned to the House of Saud" and "sense of autonomy" exactly? Which provinces are more conservative/progressive in Saudi Arabia?

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Very interesting. What do you mean by "tribally aligned to the House of Saud" and "sense of autonomy" exactly? Which provinces are more conservative/progressive in Saudi Arabia?

Sorry, I have a annoying tendency to post a post before writing it fully occasionally. I have expanded upon some of this in my previous post.

@KediKesenFare

This documentary (over 10 years old but for a BBC documentary it is not bad) about Ha'il's emir (governor).

Not Al-Qassim but neigbhoring Ha'il province has many similarities.