How brave is this woman?

[shimmerysilverglitter]

I have already posted this on the In The News Board but I wanted to discuss it here. I knew Saudi women had a hard time of it but I did not realise that in a so-called developed country that women are not even allowed to drive!

saudi women beats up virtue cop.

As I said on the other thread I cannot imagine how desperate this woman must have felt knowing how severe her punishment would be for doing something she has every right to be doing. I can't begin to imagine this kind of life.

It says at the end of the article that there are changes happening in Saudi with regards to attitudes towards women, does anyone know anymore about this subject? because I am woefully ignorant and I don't think I should be.

What exactly is brave about beating up a figure of authority?

I couldn't comment; I've never lived in
Saudi Arabia.

I do think that religion and the statte should probably be kept separate though?

breathtakingben - As it says later in the article, and as Riven says, they are guilty of beating up members of the public for "breaking" the rules. And it was the religious police who forced some school girls back into a burning building to die because they were not correctly clothed (ie they were trying to escape from a fire in their dorm). There are no doubt other examples. Standing up to them is brave (even if we don't know the reason).

A figure of authority whose job it is to prevent women from driving, being in public places unaccompanied or only accompanied by a member of their family.

FFS are you for real?

male member of their family that should have been.

I liked this story about Saudi women fighting back.

Chaotica, I wouldn't imagine that was encouraged - in which case it doesn't seem so different to police brutality over here. Htere a re a few bad people in every large public body.

Shimmerysilverglitter, I would imagine that the police's role is to keep the peace, as it is here. Unfortunately that consists of opression of women. The Societies attitudes to women should be confronted therefore.

And tbh If women can't drive over there, I support the police stopping women driving, because the women probably haven't been trained and pose a risk to themselves and others. How can you take a driving test if you're banned from driving?

You are too stupid to argue with breathtakingben.

Personal insults get us nowhere.

You are right but neither does banging your head against a brick wall.

I thought of that too Riven, but google seemed to suggest they do, at least for foreigners living/working there.

Accidents and corruption are far too common there - reminds me of the way some Pakistani drivers don't bother repairing their taxis because they're all but guaranteed to have their car written off (so to speak) within the next month, so they just save for the next taxi...

Good Luck to your daughter at Cambridge :)

Gosh, it seems the women in Saudi have a hel of a mountain to climb, it reminds me of suffragettes only worse. I hope they continue to battle and win, it's actually inspiring.

breathtaking, you are well named - your attitude certainly is breath taking...

If people do not stand up to bullying and oppression nothing will ever change. The regime in Saudi (and many other countries) is outrageous. Of course, the fact that 50% of the population have their human rights violated every day isn't of concern to most of the world because they're only women

It's smashing. Good luck to the revolution. Belle have you heard of Half The Sky?

Appletrees, no but I'll be finding out about it now.

Appletrees, I think Half The Sky needs its own thread. This is amazing.

Isn't it. I've been troubled.for a while about the difficulty of how much one can intervene to effect change in another culture. Half the Sky comes down firmly in favour.

little girls burnt to death