IN MY SHOES: Some Boys Take A Beautiful Girl And Hide Her Away From The Rest Of The World
Writing from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Reuters reporter Andrew Hammond relates the logistics of arranging a conversation with a female colleague that occurs under the watchful eye of a security guard in the reception area of the offices of a local newspaper:
In almost any other country it would be a routine exchange. In Saudi Arabia, a public meeting like this between a man and a woman could ruin her reputation and besmirch a family's honor.
The young woman explains in almost a whisper that we are lucky we can even talk here. Hotel lobbies are a non-starter, she says, since women have been hauled off by the Islamic religious police for talking like this to strange men.
Fortunately, the space we occupied was not so public that the vice squad could barge in on our professional conversation. And the management had been informed in advance of our not-so-dangerous liaison.
But the experience brought home to me one of the most striking of this country's many singularities -that half the population is off-limits to men for the kind of day-to-day contact of most other places in the world. …
Women are removed from the glare of strangers, whether behind the tinted windows of cars, the high walls of houses or the monotone black outfits called abayas which Saudi religion and tradition ordain should cover the face.
A male reporter cannot ask a woman in the street for directions, let alone approach her with questions about an issue of the day. Conferences about women's issues are often closed to male journalists.
Once I contacted a young novelist in her 20s, but she would converse with me only through email. When it comes to arranging meetings, always the same problem presents itself: Where?
The religious police consists of clerics or their students who roam the streets with normal police to ensure that the strict regulations of Saudi Islam are enforced.
Comments