Gender Equality and Womens Empowerment in Saudi Arabian Civil Society - Research Paper Example

Women in Saudi Arabia constitute more than 50% of the population. They are an underutilized asset for Saudi’s economic development. “The untapped potential of Saudi women can propel us, but only if we let it.” (Fatany, 2007) The importance of the role of women in Saudi civil society is gradually increasing. King Abdullah supports the inclusion of women in education given that their inclusion in the economy begins with better levels of education, as well as the establishment of mobile centres to which the reporting of sexual harassment can be made and the public confrontation of violence against women and children.

In the first-ever Forum for Women in Media held in Riyadh in 2006. Fatany remarked that in many ways Saudi women can be their own worst enemy when it comes to matters regarding changing their role in society. The issues raised in this forum are crucial to this study because they focused on the obstacles that stand in the way of women’s empowerment in Saudi Arabia, including the fact that when analysing the economic statistics and the vital role Saudi women must play in the development of their society and the challenges to become more apparent, but more importantly the obedience many women pay to the status quo and long-standing cultural traditions become clear too.

Those conservative women slow the pace of high progress in Saudi Arabia for the more forward-thinking women, who want to have a say in how their country and culture develops into the twenty-first Century.