Sunday, March 8, 2009

Saudi Women

From the Inquirer:
"In a country where strict Islamic doctrine demands segregation and prevents women from driving or working and travelling freely, a handful of changes in the past two months suggests an increase of freedoms for women, activists say.

In a sweeping government shakeup last month, King Abdullah named Norah al-Fayez deputy education minister in charge of women's education, the first time a woman has been given a ministerial post in the country.

Also last month, a princess called publicly for women to be permitted to drive their own cars. And at a regional conference on child abuse in a Riyadh hotel, with Abdullah's daughter Princess Adela presiding, there was virtually no barrier to prevent the more than 1,000 men and women present from mixing."

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