WUNRN
King Abdullah pushes cautious social reforms improving women's rights in
the face of conservative resistance
Abdullah’s moves to liberalise
9 April 2014 - Saudi authorities have
been asked to consider lifting a state school ban on sports for girls,
according to the official SPA news agency.
Under a strict interpretation of
sharia law, Saudi women are banned from driving and must gain formal permission
from a male relative to leave the country, start a job or open a bank account.
But King Abdullah is pushing cautious social reforms improving women's rights
in the face of conservative resistance.
SPA said Saudi
Arabia's Shura Council, which advises the government on policy,
had asked the education ministry to look into including sports for girls in
state-run schools with the proviso that they should conform to sharia rules on dress
and gender segregation.
Women were included in its
Olympic team for the first time only two years ago.
Although the council's decisions
are not binding, they are seen as important in
Members who supported the
decision pointed to an increase in obesity-related illnesses in
Those who opposed the decision
said there were many schools that were not equipped to allow for girls' sports.
Some members also questioned whether physical education lessons had decreased
obesity in boys.
A year ago, King Abdullah
appointed 30 women to the 150-member chamber for the first time.
The world's top oil exporter has
maintained an official ban on sports classes for girls in state schools under
pressure from religious conservatives.
A ban on sports in private girls'
schools was officially lifted last year, though some of those schools had already
been providing physical education classes.
When women were included for the
first time in the Saudi Olympic team at the London 2012 Games, the move won
support from many of its citizens, but it also prompted some to criticise the
morals of the two female athletes, a runner and a judoka, on social media.
Abdullah's moves to make it
easier for Saudi women to work and study alongside men, and to promote more
tolerant views of other religions have faced opposition from powerful clerics
and their supporters, who fear the kingdom is losing its Islamic values in
favour of western ideas.