WHAT DO SAUDI WOMEN WANT?

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 000996

SIPDIS

DEPT PLEASE PASS TO DRL FOR EBARKS-RUGGLES/JLIEBERMAN AND
NEA/ARP FOR ABAGWELL/BMCGRATH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2018
TAGS: PHUM KWMN KISL SA
SUBJECT: WHAT DO SAUDI WOMEN WANT?


1. (C) SUMMARY: Embassy Riyadh hosted a Women's Human
Rights Breakfast on June 19 to discuss women's human rights
issues in Saudi Arabia. The breakfast also provided an
opportunity to bridge the cultural gap between USG and Saudi
women. Some women were disappointed that the 2008 U.S. Human
Rights Report did not emphasize the progress of women and
only focused on the negative. However, all were interested
in further dialogue and information-sharing. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Embassy Riyadh, with a visiting DRL representative,
hosted a breakfast for 11 Saudi women human rights activists
on June 19 to discuss women's progress in the Kingdom and
women's human rights in general. Post took this opportunity
to explain the Human Rights Reporting processes, especially
how Post gathers information for the annual report. The
meeting included a group of prominent women who are active
and passionate about women's rights in the Kingdom. These
included: Executive Director of the National Family Safety
Program, Dr. Maha Muneef; Directors of al-Nahdah
Philanthropic Society, Ms. Dima al-Rayes and Ms. Hind
al-Shammary; Journalist and Member of the National Society of
Human Rights, Dr. Nora Jomaih; Project Coordinator for the
Arab Gulf Progam for UNDO, Ms. Ghada Mansour al-Dakheel; and
Vice Dean of King Saud University, Ms. Hoda Adulrahman
al-Helaissi (Strictly Protect all Names).

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Obstacles to Learning what Saudi Women Want
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3. (C) Post began the meeting by explaining that the USG
does not want to impose Western ways onto Saudi women. The
USG goal is to support Saudi women's empowerment efforts in
any way possible. However, the USG faces obstacles when
trying to find the answer to the question "what do Saudi
women want?" The main obstacle faced is Post only has access
to a small segment of Saudi society, primarily the elite,
Western-educated metropolitan Saudi women and to a lesser
extent, middle class women and those from less urban areas.
Furthermore, access opportunities are most often limited to
USG female diplomats. Therefore, the primary goal of this
breakfast is to find ways to "help us help you."


4. (C) In response to the question "what do Saudi women
want?" Saudi women pointed out that Post would get different
answers from women in different regions of the Kingdom and
poor women in rural areas do not even know their rights.
They asked what other sources are used for the Human Rights
Report besides talking to women in Riyadh. Another pointed
out that many of the problems facing Saudi women stem from
cultural traditions that include the oppression of women.


5. (C) According to Executive Director of the Family Safety
Program, Dr. Maha al-Muneef, efforts to empower women in the
Kingdom should first concentrate on working through the men.
She stated that tolerance of family violence is less accepted
if the man is involved in family counseling. Dr. Muneef
added that a large number of Saudi women who suffer abuse are
from rural areas and uneducated. These women also hold
traditional and cultural beliefs that preclude domestic
violence from being recognized as an offense. When Muneef
meets these types of women she asks then, "Where in the Koran
does it say the Prophet Muhammad beat his wife?" Muneef's
solution is to educate the men as well as the women about
these issues. She believes that women will not accept any
change unless the man also accepts the change. She added
that there also must be political will by the SAG to coincide
with these acceptances.

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Progress for Women's Rights
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6. (C) All of the women fully acknowledge there are women's
human rights problems in the Kingdom. They admitted that
Saudi women are being discriminated against in every segment
of their lives, including family, education, employment,
business opportunities and the justice system. However,
their major concern is that the media only focuses on the
negative and rarely shows the improvements that are actually
happening in the Kingdom.


7. (C) The improvements the women talked about included the
fact that the media is reporting on issues that were ignored
years ago. Also, many of the women were excited by the
recent announcement that Saudi business women can stay at
hotels unescorted, as this gave them flexibility in expanding
their business ventures. Another young woman stated that
women now have the authority to give permission to women to
start their own businesses without the approval of men. The
women also acknowledged that obtaining IDs is no longer a
challenge and that having IDs facilitate women being able to
vote in the municipal elections planned in 2009.


8. (C) COMMENT: Exploring ways to answer the question "What
do Saudi Women Want?" is difficult given the vast diversity
among Saudi women. We concur with the Saudi women,s opinion
that women from other regions would likely focus on issues
different than that of urban, western-educated Saudi women.
Women in Riyadh want to focus on ways to establish businesses
and grass root organizations that help other women. Another
issue that was barely touched upon is how the economic status
of women influences the answer to this question. Any USG
program dealing with Saudi women will have to be framed in
such a way that it will be acceptable to Saudi culture and
traditions while simultaneously supporting the empowerment of
the Saudi woman. The women at the breakfast were eager to
continue discussions with the Post regarding ideas for women
empowerment programs. The positive reception we received
from these Saudi women as we discussed their concerns and USG
views was highly encouraging and will allow us to continue to
follow up. END COMMENT.
FRAKER