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Sex segregation in Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Arabia is the most profoundly gender-segregated nation on Earth.[1] Sexual segregation in Saudi Arabia is a cultural practice and government policy which keeps wives, sisters and daughters from contact with male strangers. It originates from an extreme concern for female purity and family honour. Social events are largely predicated on the separation of men and women; the mixing of non-related (in technical terms, Non-mahram) men and women at parties and other social gatherings is extremely rare and limited to some of the modernist Western-educated families.[2] Anyone who is seen socializing with someone of the opposite sex who is not a relative, can be harassed by the mutaween (in Arabic: مطوعون), even charged with committing adultery, fornication or prostitution.[3]

Most Saudi homes have one entrance for men and another for women. For non-related males to enter the female sections of a Saudi home is a violation of family honour. The Arab word for the secluded section of the house is harim which means at once 'forbidden' and 'sacred'. Private space is associated with women while the public space, such as the living room, is reserved for men. Traditional house designs also use high walls, compartmentalized inner rooms, and curtains to protect the family and particularly women from the public.[4]

Moreover, sex segregation is expected in public. In restaurants, banks and other public places in Saudi Arabia, men and women are required to enter and exit through separate doors.[5]

Sex segregation in homes and public places

Since the public sphere of life is the domain of men, women are expected to be veiled outside the secluded areas of their homes. Non-mahram women and men must minimize social interaction. Companies traditionally have been expected to create all-female areas if they hire women. Public transportation is segregated all over the country. Public places such as beaches and amusement parks are also segregated, sometimes by time, so that boys and men, and girls and women attend at different hours.[6] Special amusement parks for women, so-called "women parks" have been created. Violation of the principles of sex segregation is known as khalwa. Western companies often enforce Saudi religious regulations, which has prompted some Western activists to criticise those companies. McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and other US firms, for instance, maintain segregated eating zones in their restaurants. The facilities in the families' section are usually lower in quality.[7][8][verification needed] Men and women may, sometimes, mix in restaurants of Western luxury hotels that cater primarily to noncitizens.[9]

Segregation was particularly strict in restaurants, since eating requires removal of the veil. Most restaurants in Saudi Arabia used to have "family" and "bachelor" sections, the latter for unmarried men or men without a family to accompany. Women or men with their families have to sit in the family section. In the families section, diners are usually seated in separate rooms or behind screens and curtains. Waiters are expected to give time for women to cover up before entering, although this practice is not always followed. Restaurants typically bars have an entrance for women who come without their husbands or mahram [casually their brothers], although if they are allowed in, they will be guided to the family section. Women are barred from waitressing, except at a few women-only restaurants.[10][11]

There are many women parks in Saudi Arabia. The first female-only Trampoline park was established in 2018 in country's capital by Bounce.[12]

Typical examples of segregation include:

Establishment Segregation
Banks Separate branches for men and women, but when a women's section is not available at a branch, women are allowed in the male branch. Some banks are female-only (see Women-only banks).
Coffeeshops Mostly men only, although a few have family sections.
Hotels Single women no longer require written permission to be allowed to check in, provided they have their own ID cards.
Pools Gyms, pools and spas are generally restricted to men only, but some female facilities are available.
Museums Separate opening hours for families and men ("families" typically include single women).
Restaurants Separate sections for families and men. The vast majority will allow single women into the family section.
Shopping malls Allow all visitors, but often with evenings and weekends reserved for families and single women only.
Shops Usually allow all visitors.

Recent attempts to remove sex segregation

Sex segregation is practiced since old times in Saudi Arabia. However, on 8 December 2019, a new rule was announced to reduce gender segregation in restaurants and cafes as they will no longer be required to have separate areas for families and bachelors.[13]

Exceptions to segregation rules sometimes include hospitals, medical colleges, and banks. The number of mixed-gender workplaces has increased since King Abdullah was crowned, although they are still not common.[14][15] Several newspaper publishers have desegregated their offices.[16]

As a practical matter, gender mixing is going to become fairly common in parts of daily life. Nowadays, women customarily take taxis driven by men and they can drive by themselves while in the past they were not allowed to drive and were chauffeured by males. Many households have maids, who mix with the unrelated men of the households.[17] Maids, taxi drivers, and waiters tend to be foreigners, which is sometimes used as a reason to be less strict about segregation.[11]

As part of its reform drive, the kingdom lifted the prohibition of women entering sports stadiums.[18] Saudi women were allowed to watch a football match in a stadium for the first time in January 2018. The women were segregated from the male-only sections, and were seated in the "family section".[19]

Opposition to mixing between the two sexes

Gender segregation in the public domain has become a cornerstone of the Saudi interpretation of Islam.[20] This obligation to hide the female form from men who are not family, so perplexing and unsettling to outsiders, can be complicated for Saudis too.[21]


The opening of the first co-educational university in 2009 caused a debate over segregation. A prominent cleric argued that segregation cannot be grounded in Sharia. He suggested those who advocate it are hypocrites:[22]

Mixing was part of normal life for the Ummah (Muslim world) and its societies ... Those who prohibit the mixing of the genders actually live it in their real lives, which is an objectionable contradiction as every fair-minded Muslim should follow Shariah judgments without excess or negligence. In many Muslim houses—even those of Muslims who say mixing is haram (forbidden)—you can find female servants working around unrelated males.

In 2008 Khamisa Mohammad Sawadi, a 75-year-old woman, was sentenced to 40 lashes and imprisonment for allowing a man to deliver bread to her directly in her home, and then, as she was a non-citizen, was deported.[9][23]

In 2010, a clerical adviser to the Royal court and Ministry of Justice issued a fatwa suggesting that women should provide breast milk to their employed drivers thereby making them relatives (a concept known as Rada).[24] The driver could then be trusted to be alone with the woman. The fatwa was ridiculed by women campaigners.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gorney, Cynyhia. "The Changing Face of Saudi Women". National Geographic. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  2. ^ Samovar, Larry A.; Porter, Richard E.; McDaniel, Edwin R. (2000). Communication Between Cultures. p. 271. ISBN 0495567442.
  3. ^ "Saudi Arabia Country Specific Information". US Department of State. 23 October 2009. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013.
  4. ^ McNeill, Daniel (2000). The Face: A Natural History. p. 271. ISBN 0-316-58812-1.
  5. ^ Bradley, John R. (2005). Saudi Arabia Exposed : Inside a Kingdom in Crisis. Palgrave. p. 184.
  6. ^ Murphy, Caryle (13 April 2010). "Cleric's support for men and women mingling in public sparks furor in Saudi Arabia". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  7. ^ Manning, Nicole. "U.S. Companies Support Gender Segregation in Saudi Arabia". National Organization for Women. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  8. ^ "SAUDI ARABIA - Dec. 22 - Apartheid Seen. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  9. ^ a b "2009 Human Rights Report: Saudi Arabia". U.S. State Department. 11 March 2010. Archived from the original on 15 March 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
  10. ^ Abu-Nasr, Donna (19 April 2006). "No smiling service for female diners in Saudi eateries". NewsTimes.com. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  11. ^ a b Murphy, Caryle (22 April 2009). "Saudi Arabia: Dining by gender". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  12. ^ "First female-only trampoline park in Riyadh". Arabnews.
  13. ^ "Saudi Arabia ends gender segregation in restaurants". Arab News. 2019-12-08. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  14. ^ Zoepf, Katherine (31 May 2010). "Talk of Women's Rights Divides Saudi Arabia". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  15. ^ "New Rights, and Challenges, for Saudi Women". Time. 19 October 2009.
  16. ^ Wagner, Rob L. (23 April 2010) "Saudis Debate Gender Segregation""NewsTilt"
  17. ^ "Arab world: Segregate the sexes? Fine, until the men run out of coffee". Women Living Under Muslim Laws. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  18. ^ "Saudi Arabia to allow women into sports stadiums as reform push intensifies". The Guardian.
  19. ^ "Saudi Arabia stadiums open for women in a first to watch soccer". Stuff.co.nz.
  20. ^ van Geel, Annemarie (2016). "Separate or together? Women-only public spaces and participation of Saudi women in the public domain in Saudi Arabia". Islamic actors and discourses on agency, citizenship, and civil society. 10: 357–378.
  21. ^ Gorney, Cynyhia. "The Changing Face of Saudi Women". National Geographic. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  22. ^ "Hai'a chief's 'ikhtilat' interview welcomed". Saudi Gazette. Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  23. ^ "Saudis order 40 lashes for elderly woman for mingling". CNN. 9 March 2009.
  24. ^ a b Shaheen, Abdul Rahman (20 June 2010). "Saudi women use fatwa in driving bid". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
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