For Saudi ArabiaN Women, It’s Better Late than Never
From hosting its first fashion week in April to lifting the ban on women driving last Sunday, Saudi Arabia is gradually changing the role of women, writes Vanessa Obioha
In the past couple of months, there have been some landmark changes in Saudi Arabia, the Arab nation famous for its choking laws about women. In April, it held its first Arab fashion week which introduced local and international based designers like Arwa al Banawi to the world. The epochal event which took place at Riyadh nearly didn’t happen as logistics and other mishaps nearly ruined it. But it eventually held to the delight of Saudi Arabian women who have been waiting for historical moments like this for a very long time.
The welcoming change was spearheaded by the 32 year-old Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has been on a rapid mission to modernize his country through his 2030 vision which will eradicate the strict laws and restrictions in the Gulf nation, particularly the ones that affect women. Compared to other states, women’s rights in Saudi Arabia are very limited. The country was ranked 141 out of 144 countries for gender parity by World Economic Forum’s 2016 Global Gender Gap Report. It was also elected to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women for 2018-2022.
A typical patriarchal society backed by religious laws, women who constitute 13% of the country’s native workforce as of 2015, are denied many rights such as mobility, social and economic rights, dress code, education, sex segregation, male guardianship among others. Due to this avalanche of denials, women have been advocating for their rights with little or no victory.
But Salman is changing all of that. Through its Vision 2030, Salman is supporting small- and medium-size businesses, particularly those owned by women. The establishment of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at) in 2015, which aims to increase the contribution of these companies, which include fashion businesses, in the economy from 500 billion Riyals in 2014 to two trillion Riyals in 2030 was part of this revolution.
To drive home his point to see women express themselves boldly through fashion, the crown Prince in an interview in March boldly declared that women should be allowed to choose what they wear in public, as long as it was ‘decent’ and ‘respectful’. The proclamation signaled a new wind of change in a society where dress codes for women are very stringent. Traditionally, women’s clothing must not reveal anything about her body. It is supposed to be thick, opaque, and loose. It should not resemble the clothing of men.
However at the female-audience only fashion event, fashion designers from the country and other neighbouring Arab nations displayed creativity on the runway while adhering to the new rules (no social media) that accompanied the event. From sorbethued frothy gowns of Lebanese couturiers like Tony Ward and Naja Saade; avant-garde all-black designs of Kazakhstan’s Bibisara; a capsule collection of sequined abayas by Maison Alexandrine of Brazil; to over-the-top glamour courtesy of Mr. Gaultier.
Perhaps, the most significant change that engulfed the Gulf nation was the lifting of the decades-long driving ban on women last Sunday. The change was announced last September and Saudi Arabia issued the first licences to 10 women last month. For years, women have been campaigning for their rights to drive. In 1990, 47 Saudi women who drove in a motorcade through the city to protest again the ban were all arrested. Their actions resulted in the country’s highest religious body issuing an edict banning female driving, adding what had been a customary ban to the legal code. Women were left to deprend on the men and taxis to drive them around town.
Despite their arrests, other activists still lend their voices to the cause. Loujain al-Hathloul was detained for 73 days in 2014 after trying to drive from the United Arab Emirates to Saudi Arabia, while Eman al-Nafjan, a well-known blogger, drove in Riyadh in 2013 as part of a protest that attracted international attention. The two activists alongside 70 year-old Aziza alYousef, who was one of the country’s earliest activists for the right to drive were arrested in May last month in a sweep that analysts say targeted women’s groups. Though the women are yet to be released, there was great jubilation in Jeddah and Riyadh as women celebrated the new dawn, posting videos of them driving their own car on social media. Saudi women are the only women in the world who have been deprived from driving their own cars. Though it is coming a bit late compared to other countries, it is nevertheless an embracing change for the nation.