VZCZCXRO5379
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHRH #0875/01 1831725
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021725Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1093
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHDH/AMCONSUL DHAHRAN IMMEDIATE 0126
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH IMMEDIATE 0207

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 000875 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/ARP HARRIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SA KWMN
SUBJECT: SAUDI WOMEN'S MOVEMENT TAKING PRAGMATIC NEW 
APPROACH 
 
REF: A. RIYADH 824 
     ¶B. JEDDAH 78 
 
RIYADH 00000875  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SUMMARY 
---------- 
 
¶1. (U)  Saudi activists have recently launched a campaign 
calling for substantial improvements in women's rights in 27 
areas including gaining independent legal identities equal to 
those of men and improved educational and economic 
opportunities.  Activists are currently canvassing support 
throughout the Kingdom, but have yet to submit any formal 
petition to the King or complaints against individual 
ministries.  The campaign represents a new trend among 
women's rights groups in the Kingdom with a strategy of 
identifying specific changes needed to expand women's rights 
and proposing pragmatic steps to implement the changes.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
"STOLEN RIGHTS" CAMPAIGN 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) A group of Saudi activists led by Kholoud al-Fahad, 
a blogger and former journalist from the Eastern Province, 
launched in June 2009 the "Stolen Rights" campaign, based on 
a belief that "women's rights are God-given, but have been 
lost or stolen and need to be regained."  The campaign seeks 
to remove cultural and traditional restrictions on Saudi 
women that have become mistakenly identified over time as 
part of Islam.  These restrictions, according to al-Fahad, 
hinder Saudi women from achieving their full rights as 
independent legal persons.  This has resulted in a 
marginalized role for Saudi women, which has had a 
detrimental effect on development in the Kingdom.  Al-Fahad 
and other campaign organizers are utilizing modern 
campaigning techniques to seek active support and signatures 
from all corners of the Kingdom.  Eventually, the organizers 
plan to present a petition directly to King Abdullah calling 
for full rights in 27 areas focused on the legal status of 
Saudi women and increased educational and economic 
opportunities for them. 
 
¶3. (U)  The 27 demands in the Stolen Rights petition include 
many of the issues that are in the forefront of Saudi public 
debate on women's issues, such as: 
 
-- Giving women full financial rights by eliminating the need 
for sponsors, guardians or mediators; 
 
-- Educational opportunities equal to those of men, including 
equal resources, funding and training opportunities; 
 
-- Lifting the ban on women driving; 
 
-- Increased job opportunities in government, including 
allowing women to work in the tourism sector and providing 
vocational job training for women without an education. 
 
 
MOVING TOWARDS A COHESIVE AND MODERN WOMEN'S MOVEMENT 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Spearheading the campaign, al-Fahad is using 
technology and mass media to build support for Stolen Rights. 
 By taking advantage of the Internet and social networking 
and chat sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Paltalk, Stolen 
Rights is attempting to breathe new life into the Saudi 
women's movement by reaching out to a new generation of 
"ordinary," albeit technologically-savy, Saudis.  One day 
after emailing the campaign's website, Embassy Poloff 
received an invitation to join Stolen Rights' Twitter 
network.  However, al-Fahad opined in Arab News that "women's 
rights activists are still not active and enthusiastic 
enough" and must be re-engaged in the Stolen Rights campaign. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Ref B describes efforts in a similar direction being 
spearheaded by a Jeddah-based organization, the Khadijah bint 
Khuwailid Center (KBKC).  Named after the Prophet Muhammad's 
first wife, Khadijah, the center lobbies for women's rights 
by identifying barriers to women's full participation in the 
economy, and proposing "realistic" solutions that are 
sufficiently non-threatening to be achievable.  The center 
recently succeeded in getting the Ministry of Commerce to 
agree to publish new regulations affirming that women could 
obtain licenses to do business in any field open to women. 
(NOTE: these regulations have yet to be fully implemented 
 
RIYADH 00000875  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
throughout the country, however, and do not address the 
requirement for a male relative to hold a power of attorney 
to conduct business on the woman's behalf.  End note.) 
 
 
CULTURE VS. RELIGION 
----------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Campaign activists point to old traditions and Saudi 
cultural practices, not Islam, as the reason Saudi women are 
oppressed and lack equal rights.  Al-Fahad asserted that 
"Since the very beginning, Islam has provided women with full 
rights and fair treatment in each and every life issue, 
including the rights to education, travel, drive, manage 
money and businesses, divorce and marriage."  Campaign 
activists believe, however,  that the Saudi religious 
establishment deprives Saudi women of these rights by 
interpreting and applying a Shari'a rule that advises 
"closing the doors of vice," to mean a ban on anything that 
could potentially lead to vice.  As a result, instead of 
enjoying these rights, Saudi women are forced to relinquish 
control over their own lives to a male guardian, are unable 
to drive and cannot participate in sports and many 
recreational activities.  Al-Fahad opined in an article in 
Arab News that "change will take place when moderation 
overtakes extremism" and that "more moderate voices in 
religious advocacy need to be heard." 
 
¶7. (SBU)  The line separating culture and religion is blurred 
in Saudi society, and many Saudis, as well as non-Muslims, do 
not know where one ends and the other begins.  (Comment: For 
example, although the Quran states only that women must dress 
modestly, the Saudi religious police enforce a strict dress 
code that dictates even the color and style Saudi women must 
follow.  The black robe or abaya that Saudi women are forced 
to wear according to Saudi law, is thus a cultural rather 
than religious requirement. End Comment.) 
 
¶8. (SBU)  OPINION POLLS:  Though Embassy contacts often 
dismiss such groups as not representative and claim that 
gaining full rights is "not a priority" for most women, 
opinion polls suggest that most Saudis favor empowering women 
to make basic choices about their lives.  A Gallup poll 
conducted in late 2007 in the Kingdom found that majorities 
of both women and men surveyed supported freedoms for women, 
including equal legal rights (79 percent of women, 67 percent 
of men), the right to hold any job for which a woman might be 
qualified, the right to hold leadership positions in the 
government, and the right to drive.  These findings were 
confirmed in a poll commissioned in early 2009 by the KBKC, 
which found that over 60 percent of both men and women polled 
in the Jeddah area supported expanded rights for women. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU)  A leading Saudi human rights activist, Ibrahim 
Muigaiteeb, recently opined that the legal status of women 
was the most pressing human rights issue in the Kingdom 
(Reftel). Until now, the Saudi women's movement has been 
inchoate, with diverse groups pushing separately on various 
agendas such as the right to drive or better job 
opportunities, rather than developing a unified movement 
aimed at achieving full legal rights for women.  The Stolen 
Rights campaign's list of 27 demands reflects a more 
sophisticated and comprehensive approach and uses mass media 
technology to broadcast its message.  It suggests the 
emergence of a re-energized "modern" Saudi women's movement 
that may finally be able to marshall the broad support and 
technical and legal know-how needed to overcome the social 
and cultural traditions which marginalize Saudi women. 
ERDMAN