February 28, 2016

The oil crisis makes a compelling case for women’s equality in Saudi Arabia

Written by Belinda Parmar, @belindaparmar, for The Guardian, Campaigner and CEO of LadyGeek.com

“I want my daughter to be internationally successful. I want her to be whatever she wants. And I want people to respect her.” These words were spoken by Mohammad, a middle-aged Saudi-Arabian partner of a major global management consultancy, during a panel debate I recently attended in Riyadh.

I found his ambitions for his daughter easy to identify with. They parallel with my feelings about the freedoms and rights I expect for my own eight-year-old daughter.

Sadly, it would seem not everyone shares Mohammad’s sentiments. Saudi Arabia ranks 20th out of 22 for women’s rights in the Arab states, and 130th out of 142 countries measured in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report.

Read the rest of this great article here on The Guardian.