Saudi arabia

In a country where a woman cannot even open a bank

account without her husband's permission, here are
several other things women in the Muslim kingdom are still
unable to do:
Go anywhere without a chaperone
Saudi women need to be accompanied by a male
guardian known as a 'mahram' whenever they leave the
house. The guardian is often a male relative and will
accompany women on all of their errands, including
shopping trips and visits to the doctor.
Such practices are rooted in "conservative traditions and
religious views that hold giving freedom of movement to
women would make them vulnerable to sins," according
to The Guardian.
In one extreme case, a teenager reported that she had
been gang-raped, but because she was not with a
mahram when it occurred, she was punished by the court.
The victim was given more lashes than one of her alleged
rapists received, the Washington Post reports.
The Saudi Arabian government recently announced that it
was considering lifting restrictions on women that would

allow them to travel without the approval of their relatives,

but human rights groups warn the move is likely to be
vetoed by senior clerics.
Drive a car
There is no official law that bans women from driving but
deeply held religious beliefs prohibit it, with Saudi clerics
arguing that female drivers "undermine social values".
In 2011, a group of Saudi women organised the
"Women2Drive" campaign that encouraged women to
disregard the laws and post images and videos of
themselves driving on social media to raise awareness of
the issue in an attempt to force change. It was not a
major success.
Saudi journalist Talal Alharbi says women should be
allowed to drive but only to take their children to school or
a family member to hospital. "Women should accept
simple things", he writes for Arab News. "This is a wise
thing women could do at this stage. Being stubborn won't
support their cause."
Wear clothes or make-up that "show off their beauty"
The dress code for women is governed by a strict
interpretation of Islamic law and is enforced to varying
degrees across the country. The majority of women are

forced to wear an abaya a long black cloak and a head

scarf. The face does not necessarily need to be covered,
"much to the chagrin of some hardliners," says The
Economist. But this does not stop the religious police
from harassing women for exposing too much flesh or
wearing too much makeup.
The dress code was extended to all female television
presenters earlier this year. The king's advisory body, the
Shoura Council, ruled that the women should wear
"modest" clothes that do not "show off their beauty",
according toArab News.
Interact with men
Women are required to limit the amount of time spent with
men they are not related to. The majority of public
buildings including offices, banks and universities have
separate entrances for men and women, the Daily
Telegraphreports. Public transportation, parks, beaches
and amusement parks are also segregated in most parts
of the country. Unlawful mixing will lead to criminal
charges being brought against both parties, but women
typically face harsher punishment.
Go for a swim
Reuters correspondent Arlene Getz describes her
experience of trying to use the gym and pool at an
upmarket Riyadh hotel: "As a woman, I wasn't even

allowed to look at them ('there are men in swimsuits there,'

a hotel staffer told me with horror) let alone use them."
Compete freely in sports
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia proposed hosting an
Olympic Games without women. "Our society can be very
conservative," said Prince Fahad bin Jalawi al-Saud, a
consultant to the Saudi Olympic Committee. "It has a hard
time accepting that women can compete in sports."
When Saudi Arabia sent its female athletes to the London
games for the first time, hard-line clerics denounced the
women as "prostitutes". While they were allowed to
compete, they had to be accompanied by a male guardian
and wear a "Sharia-compliant" sports kit that covered their
hair.
Try on clothes when shopping
"The mere thought of a disrobed woman behind a
dressing-room door is apparently too much for men to
handle," says Vanity Fair writer Maureen Dowd in 'A Girl's
Guide to Saudi Arabia'.
Other more unusual restrictions include:
Entering a cemetery
Reading an uncensored fashion magazine
Buying a Barbie

Violence against women still prevalent in Egypt: Amnesty

International

recent reforms by the Egyptian government tackling

sexual and gender-based violence in the country fall short
of realising long-awaited justice, according to a new
briefing by Amnesty International.
Circles of hell: Domestic, public and state violence
against women in Egypt documents the shortfalls in
Egyptian laws. The report also covers the entrenched
impunity that continues to foster a culture of routine sexual
and gender-based violence, despite some recent
piecemeal reforms.
The reality is that women and girls in Egypt face the everpresent, lurking spectre of physical and sexual violence in
all facets of life. At home many are subjected to vicious
beatings, aggression and abuse from spouses and
relatives. In public they face incessant sexual harassment
and the risk of mob attacks, when not falling prey to state
officials violence, said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy
Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at
Amnesty International, according to a press release on
Tuesday.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) defines
gender-based violence as both reflecting and reinforcing
inequities between men and women and compromising

the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims. It

encompasses a wide range of human rights violations,
including sexual abuse of children, rape, domestic
violence, sexual assault and harassment, trafficking of
women and girls and several harmful traditional practices.
The briefing emphasises three important aspects of
physical and sexual violence: sexual mob attacks; women
in state custody; and domestic violence and discriminatory
divorce laws.
First, the rate of public sexual assaults happening during
demonstrations around Cairos Tahrir Square has
increased in recent years. The briefing refers to the
authorities lack of due diligence to prevent the attacks or
protecting women from violence. It further alludes to
Egyptian legislation criminalising rape and other sexual
assault falling short of international human rights
standards.
There were at least 500 victims of sexual violence
reported during the period of February 2011 to January
2014, by a group of civil society organisations. Waves of
sexual assault in Tahrir Square occurred repeatedly, where
recently at least 9 cases were reported during the
celebrations of the inauguration of President Abdel Fattah
Al-Sisi.
Second, the deplorable treatment of female prisoners
while in state custody or upon arrest is also documented in
the briefing, and third; women experiencing different forms
of domestic violence.

Initiatives such as the introduction of a law criminalising

sexual harassment are mentioned in the briefing.
However, the report contends these reforms have
delivered very little and a more comprehensive strategy is
still needed to effectively start tackling violence and
engrained discriminatory attitudes towards women.
Charges against harassers can be made based on articles
306 (a) and 306 (b) of the Penal Code. According to the
law; verbal, behavioural, phone and online sexual
harassment will attract a prison sentence of six months to
five years, and up to EGP 50,000 in fines. The Penal Code
also contains other articles that deal with offences of
public indecency.
However there are some obstacles in the way of legal
redress, given that the laws lack a good enforcement
mechanism and they are both vague and limited in their
definition of the crimes they refer to, according to
Harassmap, an initiative that attempts to end the social
acceptability of sexual harassment through online and
offline community mobilisation.
A report issued by the United Nations Entity for Gender
Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in
April 2013 reveals that 99.3% of girls and women are
subjected to one form or another of harassment, which
confirms the spread of this phenomenon in Egypt. 82.6%
of the total female respondents announced that they
neither felt secure nor safe in the street, while the rate of
the sense of security and safety increases in places of

education, in the home, within family circle and relatives

and among friends, according to the report.
Amnesty International calls, in its briefing, on authorities to
deliver long-awaited comprehensive reform, and to put the
issue of violence and discrimination against women at the
top of the political agenda for the upcoming parliament in
March.