My son in law was born and raised in Jamaica. As a child in public school flogging with canes were given to students for misconduct. It makes me glad to have been born in the U S A. Shaima Ghassaniya a Saudi Aranian women was found guilty of driving a vehicle by the court in Jeddah and sentenced to 10 lashes.This sounds like a verse to a bad nursery rhyme or the script off a movie set, but it is a true story.
Saudi Arabia has no written laws forbidding women from driving, it is banned under a restriction called a “de facto ban” by a religious faction known as the Wahabist Imam. Amnesty International has reported that as of 9/29/11 the king encouraged by a womens rights organization called “Baladi” meaning my country has revoked the flogging sentence for Shaima. Saudi women have been protesting by sending videos of themselves driving to sites like YouTube and Twitter. Many of them are under investigation and scheduled for trial. We as American women take so much for granted, like the right to drive and talk and walk beside and not behind a man. We should be thankful not to have to cover our faces and wrap our whole bodies away from sight and for the nineteenth amendment which gives women the right to vote.
Saudi Arabia is an Islamic monarchy and under the rule of King Abdullah has just granted women the right to vote and run as candidates in the upcoming election of 2015, but I guess they expect them to walk to the polls. Go figure. In Saudi Arabia women have few rights. Male guardians “mahrams” must give permission for them to be hospitalized, live alone, get married or divorced, travel, or work. It is acceptable for women to be beaten by men if they disobey or rebel.
Saudi Arabia is not alone in restricting or forbidding women the right to vote. There are several places still out there Bhutan, Lebanon, Brunei and the Vatican City are prime examples. It is interesting to know when different parts of the world allowed women the right to vote.
New Zealand 1893
Canada 1917
Ethiopia !917
U S A 1920
Mexico 1947
Argentina 1949
Madagascar 1957
Fiji 1963
Switzerland 1971
Bangladesh 1972
Iraq 1980
Afghanistan 1983
Saudi Arabia 2015
Works cited:
Answers.com Wiki answers, What Countries Do Not Let Women Vote
Middle East & North America, Reuters, Saudi Woman Takes Flogging for Driving, Sept. 28, 2011
The Christian Post, Herbert Pinnock, Saudi Woman Flogged For Driving As King Grants Women Right To Vote, Sept. 28,2011