[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Obstacles Before Women's Employment Discussed

From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 09:25:54 +0100
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**http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=77368&d=6&m=2&y=2006

Monday, 6, February, 2006 (07, Muharram, 1427)


      Obstacles Before Women's Employment Discussed
      Raid Qusti & Ali Al-Zahrani, Arab News 


        
      RIYADH, 6 February 2006 - Despite the government's having spent billions 
of riyals on educating women, their numbers in the labor force has not changed 
much in the last 25 years. "Obstacles Preventing Saudi Women From Participating 
in the Workforce" was the main theme on the second day of the 4th Human 
Resources Development Forum in Riyadh yesterday.

      According to official statistics, Saudi women amount to only 4 percent of 
the total work force (both Saudis and non-Saudis) and 10.7 percent of the Saudi 
labor force. According to the latest statistics from the official census, women 
constitute almost 50 percent of the Kingdom's population. In other words, 
nearly half the country's human resources are not even utilized. 

      Dr. Hanadi Al-Hukair, one of the key speakers yesterday, spoke about the 
obstacles that prevent women from working in the Kingdom. She noted that the 
traditional view is that women should not work outside the home and that women 
must be under the constant supervision of a man. In other words, a woman who 
leaves home to work is endangering herself and allowing herself to be tempted.

      "From the day a woman is born, she is treated totally differently from 
her male relatives and siblings. She lives under strict parental supervision 
until she gets married," she pointed out. "This is tradition. It is far from 
the Islamic teaching about women; Islam respects women and gives them duties in 
society."

      The possibility of mixing with men in the workplace, she said, is another 
factor keeping women out of the workforce. "A Saudi woman is not allowed to 
work in the same place with men. She must work in a separate place. This has 
reduced women's opportunities and has limited their employment largely to 
education, social service and medicine," she pointed out. 

      "The Saudi male - despite all the education he receives - has not changed 
his traditional way of giving all household chores to the female. He does not 
want to relinquish a role which allows him many privileges," she said. 

      Another problem she noted was the shallow opinions held concerning 
certain jobs. Some jobs, including nursing, were still considered inappropriate 
for Saudi women. 

      "Such attitudes have caused many men and women to avoid taking up these 
jobs. To avoid the shortage, the Kingdom has had to rely on foreign labor 
despite the availability of nursing colleges and medical colleges."

      She said that the number of Saudis in these institutions was very low and 
did not indicate that the country could reduce its dependence on foreign labor. 
"We will continue to depend on foreign labor in these fields so long as there 
is no change in these ideas and conceptions," she added.

      As for expertise and qualifications, she said that the Saudi market had 
been designed to depend on male expertise and qualifications due to his better 
chances of receiving education, training and scholarships.

      "All of these have given men the notion that they are better than women 
in doing many jobs. As for women, since their chances are fewer than their male 
counterparts, the idea has developed that women are not competent to manage an 
institution." 

      Another problem is transportation. Al-Hukair said that because women are 
not allowed to drive, they have to rely on male relatives to drive them to 
work. This can easily give rise to further problems if the woman's male 
relatives cannot drive her every day. The family may then have to hire a driver 
incurring unnecessary expenditure.
     


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[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Obstacles Before Women's Employment Discussed

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