Saudi Female Chastity

"We need management who can make quick decisions without thinking of what the family will say or what culture will say."
Professor Aziza Youssef, King Saud University

Paramedics were reportedly prevented from entering the women’s-only campus at King Saud University. (Photo courtesy of alriyadh.com) 

 

Saudi Arabia recognizes a strict interpretation of Islam that demands separation of the genders in the public arena; above all, female modesty. And so men and women are segregated in schools and most Saudi universities. Women enjoy separate seating areas and separate entrances in "family" sections of restaurants and cafes where single males are not permitted to make themselves comfortable.

Top Saudi clerics, concerned for the morals of their religious community, warn repeatedly that the genders coming in contact with one another in the public arena will lead inevitably to a deterioration in female chastity. Saudi culture that enriches its society through strict religious observation would be imperilled.

In 2002 when a fire broke out at a girl's school in Mecca, 15 students died. Human rights groups reported that religious police denied exit to the girls because they were not appropriately wearing abayas, a traditional loose black cloak covering the female body from the neck on down. The religious police denied any such thing, yet that tragedy led to the overhaul of certain aspects of women's education.

It was the responsibility of the Department of Religious Guidance and clerics to look after matters relating to women's colleges. In the wake of the fire that responsibility was placed under the Education Ministry. The most recent tragedy to highlight the criminal absurdity of laws meant to ensure that Saudi girls and women behave in a chaste manner lest they outrage communal norms, took place at a Riyadh university.

A young student by the name of Amna Bawazer, whose father had stated that his daughter had always suffered medically from heart problems, suddenly collapsed at the university. It was reported that staff at the university had refused male paramedics entry to the women's-only campus. And the young woman who had suffered a heart attack, later died.

In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 file photo, a veiled woman walks in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Thousands of Saudis vented their anger online over a report Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, that staff at a Riyadh university had barred male paramedics from entering a women's-only campus to assist a student who had suffered a heart attack and later died. (Aya Batrawy, Associated Press)

According to the Okaz newspaper that reported on the tragic event, the university staff allowed an hour to lapse before finally permitting paramedics entry to try to safe the life of the young woman. The university's rector, Badran Al-Omar, denies any such thing; there was no problem about permitting the paramedics to enter. The university did all it could to save the student's life.

Which hasn't stopped the event from creating outrage among thousands of Saudis who angrily posted online messages and a debate on Twitter with the creation of a hashtag to discuss the deadly incident. Many respondents blamed the kingdom's enforcement of strict rules governing gender segregation. And professors at the university, to their credit, also demanded an investigation.