I am writing to urge you to challenge Saudi Arabia to adhere to the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the UN Charter for Human Rights specifically regarding the rights of women by immediately supporting women's right to vote, and establishing a timeline for elimination of laws that uphold all other forms discrimination against women that will be monitored by the UN.
Thank you.
Joyce Thomas
http://joyworks.net/
~ Return to "What'd She Say Now!"
Saudi Arabia recently announced that women will be officially banned from voting and from running for office in the first nationwide municipal election. As a member of the United Nations and the UN Commission for Human Rights, Saudi Arabia's recent move is in violation of the UN charter, UDHR and the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which Saudi Arabia ratified in 2000.
The denial of the right to vote is but one another example of the gross discrimination Saudi women face including requiring a husband's permission in order for a woman to work, study, or travel.
All women are barred from driving, leaving home without being fully covered from head to toe, administering their own businesses, or interacting with men in public.The simple showing of their hair or skin can bring punishment and even imprisonment by the country's religious police, the muttawa.
