By Charlotte Webster-
The culture of male guardianship in Saudi Arabia needs to be challenged, and challenged fast.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has imposed a bullish system that subject Saudi women to a degrading male guardianship system that permits a Saudi woman’s life to be controlled by a man from birth until death. Under this draconian rule, every Saudi woman must have a male guardian, normally a father or husband, but in some cases a brother or even a son, who has the power to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf.
Government laws stipulate that women must have a male guardian’s consent to travel abroad, obtain a passport, marry, or to be released from prison.Guardianship restrictions last from birth until death. This is one of the most oppressive regimes to women in the world, making it very surprising and disheartening that no other national leader has taken a bold step to confront this roguish practise. Saudi Arabia is a deeply religious Muslim country, but the authorities of the country can hardly claim any level of piety that would endear them to any fair supreme being.
Subjecting women to a life of control and degrading treatment often accompanied with brutal physical and sexual assaults shows them to be nothing but monstrous bullies. Strong women activists around the world need to lobby a few governments to take a serious stand to eradicate this evil way of life.
A number of women arrested in Saudi Arabia for campaigning for the right for women to drive and for the abolition of the male guardianship system remain in detention. These women’s rights activists are now due to face prosecution and be put on trial. Even after Crown Prince Bin Salmon relaxed his oppressive driving prohibition for women, he has kept the women there.
According to reports from Human Rights Watch, they have had limited access to family members and had no access to lawyers. This is awful beyond imagination. An insider from Human Rights Watch told The Eye Of Media.Com:
” There are too few voices prepared to stand up to some of the most serious atrocities against women in the world. The atrocities being committed against women in Saudi Arabia are so catastrophic that they require a degree of urgent intervention that is limited at the moment.
With more people highlighting these scourges on the human race, awareness can be raised that may one day precipitate much needed action to safeguard the well being of women”
Saudi Arabia is a Monarchy that refuse its citizens the same rights as free individuals in the Western world. Its practise should be condemned and resisted. Human beings must be entitled to certain basic rights no matter what part of the world they live.
TORTURE
Human Rights Watch say the women were subjected to torture, with about four of the Saudi women activists including with electric shocks, whippings, sexual harassment, and assault. The signs if torture and abuse are said to be evident, whilst the world either turns a bind eye or lacks the will to intervene. Intervention of a sovereign state like Saudi Arabia may be difficult, but imposing sanctions as is done to countries that fail to comply with rules of the international community should be applied.
A strong woman somewhere needs to take a stand for these poor women. Theresa May would be an easy candidate for nomination, but her hands are too full with Brexit politics at the moment. Someone needs to save these poor human beings! The Saudi government should e pressurised to abandon these inhumane practices as they cannot provide any defence for it
The Saudi government even has a mobile phone app through which male guardians can decide whether their female relatives are permitted to travel outside the country. This must be terrifying for many women in that country. Two women and myself have spent time in the last two days urging this publication to campaign tirelessly for action to be taken to support women who find themselves in a hellish position like these activists.
Someone has to fight for them, and we can’t just wash our hands off it because we are unaffected, or because this is a Muslim country with an oppressive practise. We should add our voices and weight to the problem until a solution arrives. Happy international womens day to all women proud to be women.