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). -------------- -------------- Obstacles to Learning what Saudi Women Want -------------- -------------- ¶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. -------------- Progress for Women's Rights -------------- ¶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