Saudi Arabian leaders made headlines last week when they launched the nation’s first Girls Council in Qassim province. The Council is meant to, “open up more and more opportunities that will serve the work of women and girls,” according to Prince Faisal bin Mishaal bin Saud, the governor of Qassim province. When photos of the event were released, Internet users were quick to point out that the photo of the launch of the Qassim Girls Council contained no girls or women. At an event which was supposed to support growing opportunities for women, the female leadership of the committee was noticeably absent. They were in another room, viewing the ceremony via video to maintain strict compliance with Saudi Arabia’s law that unmarried men and women cannot be in a room together. The lack of female presence at the event, as well as the compliance with the nation’s strict gender segregation laws shows the committee will likely make little difference in the lives of Saudi Arabian women without making changes to the nation’s oppressive legal system.
The well-intentioned goals of this Council will likely never be carried out under the current legal system. The national government’s goal is to increase the amount of female participants in the Saudi economy from 22 percent to 30 percent by 2030. The Council hopes to get more women to enter the workforce as well. This goal will be difficult to achieve, however, with the nation’s guardianship system still in place. The guardianship system often requires women to gain the permission of male relatives before seeking employment. Though the system has been modified in recent years, many companies still require prospective female employees to follow this mandate. Under this system, it will be difficult to significantly increase the entrance of women in the workforce. The change would require not only female interest in breaking traditional gender roles in the country, but also support by male relatives.
Additionally, the segregation between men and women make it difficult for the Council to be legislatively effective. The Council has the advantage of being run by Princess Abir bint Salman, wife of Qassim province’s governor, but women still have few roles in governmental decisions. As a result, the power of the committee will always be limited. The public presentation of the Council, in which the men and women are separated, demonstrates the Council’s future. Productivity in a working environment is significantly affected in a positive manner by increased collaboration between group members and gender segregation laws would minimize the ability for men and women to meet in an open, collaborative manner. The only desegregated cooperation on the Council which would be legally permitted is that between married pairs. Single women would have little voice on the Council because they could not communicate with their male counterparts.
The success of the Council’s goal to increase the percentage of women in the workforce could also be hindered by transportation issues. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are legally prohibited from driving. They must rely on the assistance of male family members to get where they need to go. This could be harmful for women looking to enter the job market because they must be entirely reliant on outside forces to get to their place of employment. Even if the Council can convince employers in Qassim province to hire women, the success will be limited if women can’t get to work.
While the Qassim Girls Council is an admirable idea, its success is dependent on the loosening of Saudi Arabian law. The Council appears to be an important step in gaining more gender equality in a country where women can rarely seek employment without the permission of a male family member, but the initial presentation of the Council showed that it will make little change. The male and female members of the group remained segregated, with the women in a separate room away from media attention. This societal division will only hinder the productivity of the Council and, until women gain the same legal protections as their male counterparts, change will be hard to come by.
Carly Mulvihill is the Senior Associate Opinion Editor for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at c.mulvihill@cavalierdaily.com.
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