A story about a woman’s rights, lefts, hooks and upper cuts
May 18th 2010 03:54
The thinking of Saudi men can be summed up by the fact that they have religious police in the first place.
Recently one woman, aged in her 20s, visited an amusement park with a young man. This is the sort of irresponsible behaviour which young people will get up to without adequate supervision. How, for example, are the religious police to know, just by looking at two young people strolling around an amusement park, if they are married? It is important to know this, of course, because in Saudi Arabia it is a crime for an unmarried couple to be alone together.
The religious police approached the two young people and initiated questioning about the legality of their activity.
In response, the young woman punched a policeman. Then she punched him again. In fact, she landed quite a number of blows, and as a consequence he was taken to hospital to be treated for fairly serious facial injuries.
Now the story worsens. Instead of decrying the violence as an outrageous and irresponsible denial of the customs and traditions of Saudi society, many women in the country are cheering.
One, a women's rights activist named Wajiha Al-Huwaidar, said, “To see resistance from a woman means a lot. People are fed up with these religious police, and now they pay for the humiliation they cause. There will be more resistance.''
Fighting words. Policemen beware.
The names of the young couple and date of the incident have not been made public. The woman faces a lengthy prison term and lashings – not for punching the policeman, but for refusing to confirm her relationship to the man.
Sources: News Corp, The Media Line news agency, Okaz newspaper, Jerusalem Post newspaper.
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Comment by Journeywoman
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btw have you read Forbidden Love by Norma Khouri? It was a real eye-opener for me on plight of the women of Jordan; definitely worth a read if you haven't already.
Comment by Chris Champion
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I agree completely. The sad thing about Saudi Arabia is that it's one of the few instances where a decent standard of living has not obliterated fundamentalist thinking.
But there are growing numbers of stories of open revolt against the Saudi system. The pressure is growing. Things will have to change soon or there will be a revolution.
It will, hopefully, result in a bloody nose for every sexist fool in the country.
Comment by Journeywoman
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Saudi woman opens fire on virtue police
I'm hoping it's the start of a revolution, myself, as I strongly doubt that the Saudi men in power are going to change policies according to the wishes of the women, as the current regime has been in place for far too long.
When such a revolution comes, I believe the support from nations like Australia, Britain and the US will be enormous. The sooner it happens, the better.