Wouldn’t you know it? I just yesterday wrote an article praising Saudi Arabia for taking some tentative steps towards progress – because the Kingdom is apparently considering banning underage marriage (this in response to international criticism of a Saudi judge who refused to anul a wedding between a 7-year old girl and a 47-year old man).
Then I read about another Saudi judge who comes out very much in favor of a little wife slap every now and then (if the wife spends too much money). Oddly enough, the judge made these comments during a seminar on domestic violence.
Arab News, a Saudi English-language daily newspaper based in Riyadh, reported that Judge Hamad Al-Razine said that “if a person gives SR 1,200 [$320] to his wife and she spends 900 riyals [$240] to purchase an abaya [the black cover that women in Saudi Arabia must wear] from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment.”
Dolce & Gabbana or off the rack? You decide.
Women in the audience immediately and loudly protested Al-Razine’s statement, and were shocked to learn the remarks came from a judge, the newspaper reported.
Arab News reported that Al-Razine made his remark as he was attempting to explain why incidents of domestic violence had increased in Saudi Arabia. He said that women and men shared responsibility, but added that “nobody puts even a fraction of blame” on the men, the newspaper said.
Al-Razine “also pointed out that women’s indecent behavior and use of offensive words against their husbands were some of the reasons for domestic violence in the country,” it added.
Oh yeah – let’s not forget who the real victims are here….
“God ordered women to dress modestly, to be respectable and to avoid provoking lust.”
So basically, boys will be boys – so women have to be hot, uncomfortable, and hidden?
Not only that, but culture dictates that the abaya Saudi women wear be (heat-absorbing) black – making it even more hot and uncomfortable in this fiery desert climate. (For a pro-Abaya article by an Emirates woman raised in the US, click here).
So you have to wear this uncomfortable, monochrome symbol of oppression, and you decide to get a nice one, a brand name – only to get slapped for your trouble.
As an Indian-American, I get tired of how self-righteous the US is in criticizing other, more conservative cultures – especially because the US does such a poor job protecting American women from violence. But this is flatly ridiculous.
If I had to put up with that, I might want to let someone know how I feel…
For more information about Saudi women’s and human rights groups, click here, and here.
