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It is believed that in Russia they make extensive consumption of alcohol like vodka and live in masculine ways.

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Russian Stereotypes - True, Slightly True or Pure Hollywood Fantasy?

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While most countries can't escape being stereotyped one way or another, think about it - how many other cultures have been stereotyped, and consequently, judged by the outside world, with the same pervasiveness as the Russians.

There are explanations for our stereotyping obsession of course. Straddling both the eastern and western worlds, with huge expanses of remote and sparsely populated wilderness in between, Russia is seen as vast, mysterious, largely impenetrable and virtually foreign to its more familiar European neighbours. It was vilified by the Allied powers post-WWII, and again during the Cold War, which saw the 'Russians hellbent on taking over the world' became popular villains in Hollywood movies. For 40 years during the Soviet/Cold War era, Russia was almost completely shut off from outside contact during the secretive reign of the USSR. The world was both suspicious and intrigued. It was inevitable that these stereotypes would emerge, as people tried to imagine a country they had heard about in history books but could not experience themselves.

Now that Russia has risen from the dark fog to become one of the world's most globally connected superpowers and popular tourist attractions, perceptions are starting to change. But there some stereotypes are hard to shake. Here are some of the most common (and weird) ones we've heard.

Russians are unfriendly, humourless and never smile

Russians are often thought of as rumpy, stone-faced and reserved, simply because they don't smile nearly as much as say... Americans. Visitors to Russia may encounter what seems at first to be an unsettlingly stern demeanour. That's simply because most tourists primarily interact with locals in a bureaucratic setting (ticket-sellers, receptionists, train guards etc.). Decent service in Russia typically means being straightforward and formally polite, with no need for meaningless chit-chat.

It's not that Russians don't smile, but rather, smiling in Russia has a different purpose. The Russian smile isn't generally a way of expressing friendliness to strangers. Rather, it tends to be reserved for showing affection among loved ones, reacting to something funny (yes, Russians do in fact have a rather wicked sense of humour) or during times of genuine enjoyment.

Find yourself invited to celebratory dinner with a bunch of locals, and as the vodka flows, you'll quickly discover Russians smile, laugh, dance and get as joyously silly as anyone.

Russian women are extremely beautiful and obsessed with posh and glamour

Russian women are renowned for their beauty, and it's true - many Russian women possess qualities regarded as classically attractive - high cheekbones, tall, slim figures, voluptuous lips and small, snub noses. But not all Russian women fit the stereotypical 'Russian bombshell' image, with so many different ethnicities with unique physical attributes living across the vast, multi-cultural expanse of Russia.

Many Russian ladies have a reputation for being beauty-obsessed, never stepping out without wearing the latest fashion, the finest jewellery, and flawlessly made-up faces. Some members of the younger generation have adopted the philosophy that glamour doesn't necessarily equal femineity, but for many well-to-do Russian women, going out is seen as a chance to show off - too much bling is never enough! You may think they look overdressed, but their confident strut tells a different story! Extreme flashiness, however, is usually reserved for special occasions. For day-to-day activities like going to work or grocery shopping, Russian women tend to dress conservatively.

It's always winter in Russia

Imagine a typical Russian scene and there's a good chance you'll conjure up a snow-covered, colourless landscape, its shuffling inhabitants dressed in thick coats and ushanka (fur caps with dangling ear flaps). While not entirely inaccurate, it's certainly not what most of Russia looks like, most of the year.

Russia is an immense country encompassing a total of seven climatic zones, with dramatic differences in weather from one region to the next. Most of the country possesses a continental climate, with warm to very hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Moscow 's cool, temperate climate enjoys a pleasantly warm, slightly humid summers and receives almost all its snowfall between late November and early March. Sochi and the Black Sea Coast are blessed with mild subtropical weather year-round. So, unless you're planning your Russia trip in the dead of winter, you can probably leave the thermal underwear at home.

Russians drink Vodka like water and beer is considered a 'non-alcoholic' beverage

Vodka is enormously popular in Russia, a proud symbol of heritage and tradition. Virtually every special occasion will involve passing around the bottle - having a glass or two is more or less expected. However, vodka is generally reserved for celebrations. It's almost exclusively enjoyed in social situations and accompanied by food.

No, it's not considered a replacement for water, and beer is consumed in much the same fashion. Just like anywhere, alcoholism is a problem among a subsection of the population, but as Russian society becomes more health-conscious, people are indulging less in unhealthy drinking habits. If there's one beverage Russians drink with truly enthusiastic frequency, it's good old fashioned tea. Ninety-four per cent of Russians are regular tea drinkers, downing an average of three cups a day.

Russia has a massive problem with corruption

This one, unfortunately, is grounded in a considerable amount of truth. Since Medieval times, Russia's ruling powers have propped up their wealth by working corruption into the system. Handing over bribes was part and parcel of life in Russian society.

Unfortunately, bribery is still normalised among many in positions of power. According to a recent survey conducted by PWC, a third of high-level Russian business managers and had to deal with corruption and bribery in order to run their business. Several profile cases involving high-ranking government officials have come to light in the last few years, and while the public is increasingly demanding justice, correcting hundreds of years of institutionalised corruption is a slow process. Having said that, as a tourist, you're very unlikely to encounter any dodgy dealings with cops or other authority figures. Tourists generally aren't considered targets - it's the ordinary citizens dealing with the brunt of the problem.

All Russians are communists at heart

Communism is the state ideology that completely took over political, social and economic life in Russia during the Soviet Era. Any opposition would attract sometimes lethal punishment. The ideology was abandoned in 1991 and Russians (the wealthy ones at least) have wholeheartedly embraced the capitalistic lifestyle.

However, there are plenty of older people who still remain attached to communist ideals, and it's not that unusual to meet elderly folk with fond memories of the days of the USSR. Still, as the original comrades fall into old age, the communist sentiment is becoming far less prevalent in Russia. Today, the Communist Party of Russia only has about 160,00 members in total.

Russians are extremely superstitious

Russian culture is rich in folklore, age-old beliefs and old wives' tales. Many beliefs stem from pre-revolutionary times, when Pagan mystics existed in every village alongside Orthodox priests, weaving magic and superstition into the beliefs of Christianity. Plenty of superstitious traditions still survive today. Considered a part of Russian folk heritage, they therefore still have a place in society.

One common superstition is refusing to sit at the corner of the table (it's unlucky, obviously!). Want to thank someone with a lovely bouquet of flowers? Make sure the bunch is made up of an odd number of flowers. Even-numbered bouquets are only for funerals. Most Russians don't believe these little rituals actually work. For many, it's a force of habit or just a bit of light-hearted fun.

Russians possess a "mysterious" soul

If you're into classic 19th-century Russian literature, you made have read philosophical ponderings on the unique make-up of the "Russian soul", an idea that entered Western consciousness with the popularity of writers like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. These writers attempted to paint a picture of the Russian psyche by exploring the suggestion that ethically and cultural Russians have an alternative way of interacting with the world, often in sharp contrast to those in the west.

The core idea, upheld as one of the pillars of national identity, is that, while influenced by both Eastern and Western values, Russia frequently chooses to go its own "third way". Only no one can quite agree on what this really means.

Russians have a distrust of the law and many have mafia connections

Hollywood has portrayed Russians as bad guys for so long that there's little wonder people still have trouble breaking the association between "ordinary Russian" and "evil criminal". Past political unrest has led to periods of high crime in Russia, but in the last two decades, serious crime has fallen dramatically. For the casual tourist, violent criminals and mobsters should be very low on your list of concerns.

The Russian mafia is still one of the world's most powerful criminal organisations, but your chances of ever bumping into one are slim. Out of a population of144 million, about 12,000 Russians are estimated to be mafia members. On the flipside, almost a million Russians serve in what is the third biggest police force in the world. Russia has the largest percentage of policemen per capita - 623 policemen for every 100,000 citizens.

Bears roam the streets and are favourite household pets

With bears are under threat in many places, Russia has shown considerable success in protecting its national animal, the brown bear, with the world's largest population living within its borders. However, these bears have only managed to thrive thanks to the remoteness of places like the Kamchatka Peninsula. The odd lost bear may stumble into a rural village, but you definitely don't risk bumping into a bear while strolling the streets of downtown Moscow!

As for pets, well, Russians are some of the world's most enthusiastic cat-owners, with 57% of households owning cats and 29% shacking up with dogs. Despite the memes, Russians don't consider bears to be "oversized dogs". That said, there are a small number of folk who do own bears in suburban homes, flaunt them in public for attention and perpetuate the stereotype. In 2017, Moscow banned the private ownership of bears.

Mail order brides are a major Russian export

The term "mail order bride" has been around since the 19 th century, when women literally advertised their 'availability' in catalogues, hoping to marry into a more secure future with men from more developed countries. When the Soviet Union collapsed, many women from the Eastern Bloc found themselves in difficulty. Keen to seek a more stable life aboard, the 'Russian mail order bride' industry was born.

These days, the term itself is inaccurate. You cannot simply order a wife out of an online catalogue (hello... human trafficking!) The women are attached to international dating agencies, who introduce couples, assist with correspondence and translation and arrange for meet-ups across borders.

These online dating agencies continue to operate in Eastern Europe, however, as many more Russian women benefit from higher incomes and greater independence, they are partaking less and less. Far more common are Ukrainian brides-to-be, where many women are still seeking a way out of the country's ongoing political and economic turmoil.

Related posts

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Russian Stereotypes - True, Slightly True or Pure Hollywood Fantasy?

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Exploring Russian Stereotypes is a fun journey into Russia's image in the eys of the rest of the world. Are they all true, find out yourself

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Pablo Escobar, most known Colombia's drug trafficker.

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Everyone believes that in Colombia, most people are drug dealers, and that it's so massive, that it's almost allowed by the government.

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Illegal drug trade in Colombia - Wikipedia

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Illegal drug trade in Colombia ( Spanish: Narcotráfico en Colombia ) refers to a practice of Colombian criminal groups of producing and distributing illegal drugs. Colombia has had four major drug trafficking cartels and several bandas criminales, or BACRIMs which eventually created a new social class and influenced several aspects of Colombian culture and politics.

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It's believed that everyone in Spain is born to be a Youtuber, they all have big social media accounts, and that they let everyone become one.

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Everyone around the world believes that everyone in the U.S. is obese, as they make stuff full of calories and preservants.

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America is just gross: Our super-sized appetites -- and the lobbyists who help make us obese

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America, it seems, is hard-wired to over-consume both food and fuel. Policy struggles to reduce obesity and slow climate change have so far produced few tangible results. The nation's annual CO2 emissions are actually increasing again, up another 2 percent in the past two years alone. As for overeating, one out of three adults in America is now obese, with no decline in sight.

As mitigation efforts continue to fall short, we may be tempted to think about adaptation -- that is, finding ways to live with the new health and climate risks we seem unable to prevent. Adapting while continuing to over-consume is a distant second-best option, but political leaders face increased temptation to pivot in that direction.

When it comes to over-consuming both food and fuel, the United States is in a league by itself. CO2 emissions per capita in the United States are twice as high as in the European Union, and America's 34 percent adult obesity rate is twice the industrial world average. America's obesity rate is actually seven times as high as the rate in Japan. The extreme nature of America's over-consumption ought to create plenty of room for the nation to cut back, yet the drivers are so deeply rooted in the nation's institutions, culture and resource endowments that significant corrective actions become nearly impossible.

America's extreme over-consumption of both food and fuel emerges in part from the nation's unique cultural aversion to taxes, especially consumption taxes. Going back to President Roosevelt in the 1940s, leaders of both parties have rejected taxes on consumption as "regressive" on low- and middle-income citizens, which indeed they are. As a result, only 8 percent of tax revenues in America come from taxes on general consumption, compared to a 21 percent average for all rich countries.

Other rich countries have long imposed significant taxes on both food and fuel consumption, but the United States has not. Combined federal and state tax rates on petroleum consumption in the United States, in 2012, were only one fourth as high as in Poland, one sixth as high as in France, and one seventh as high as in Italy, Norway and the Netherlands. The United States does tax gasoline consumption, but at a rate less than half as high as in Canada, less than one quarter as high as in Japan, and only one eighth as high as the average in Western Europe.

Grocery purchases are also less taxed in the United States, helping to make food cheap. Many European countries apply a value added tax (VAT) to food, with rates ranging from 5.5 percent in France to 7 percent in Germany, and 25 percent in Sweden and Denmark. Retail food prices in the European Union are 30 percent higher than in America, one reason obesity rates are so much lower.

Will the United States ever be able to alter its tax policies to discourage excessive fuel and food consumption? The nation's basic resource endowments plus its 18th-century political institutions always seem to get in the way. Taxing fossil fuel consumption is hard in America compared to Europe, because America's distinct fossil fuel endowments have spawned wealthy industries motivated to block such taxes. America's proven oil, gas and coal reserves are more than twice as large as in all of the EU countries combined. America's equally distinct political institutions also provide too many veto points to the private fuel lobbyists, and the private citizens, opposed fuel taxes. In 1993, the House of Representatives passed President Bill Clinton's Btu tax, but a vote was never taken in the Senate so the measure died. The same thing happened in 2009 with cap-and-trade. In 2014, President Obama's EPA proposed a new rule to cut emissions from America's power plants, but this proposal has already triggered lawsuits and threats of non-compliance from coal states. Lacking Congressional endorsement, the rule can be weakened or reversed after Obama leaves office.

In a parallel way, America's unique political institutions have given the beverage industry unusual leeway to reject taxes on caloric soda, and food companies the option to continue advertising junk food to children. Congress even allows the use of federal money to purchase soda and candy under the SNAP program.

America is thus fundamentally different from Europe. American exceptionalism may be praiseworthy in most respects, but a tendency to consume too much food and fuel seems one unfortunate part of the package. Given the political limits we face in our efforts to mitigate obesity and climate change, we are naturally tempted to pivot toward adaptation.

In the area of climate change, adaptation options are superficially attractive for many Americans. Yale economist William Nordhaus has calculated that even if global warming continues with a temperature increase of 2.5 °C by 2070, roughly 90 percent of the American economy will remain only "lightly or negligibly impacted." The most heavily impacted sectors will be farming, forestry and fishing, yet these make up just 1.2 percent of the American economy. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has even calculated that longer growing seasons, increased average rainfall, and more carbon fertilization of crops could help many American farmers in the short run.

For America, adaptive self-protection against climate change could resemble what we saw after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, when Congress promptly appropriated $50 billion in supplemental funding to rebuild the Jersey Shore, with upgrades for increased climate resilience. This was expensive, but an easy move to make politically. Members of Congress have long survived in office by bringing federal money ("pork") back to their districts through defense contracts, bridge and highway projects, VA hospitals, farm subsidies, sewage treatment plants, Small Business Administration loans, or FEMA outlays. Climate resilience outlays can help to keep the pork barrel full.

But if the United States, the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China, pivots toward adaptation and fails to deliver on mitigation, the inclination of other countries to reduce their own emissions will be undercut. China's recently announced "intent" to stop increasing its CO2 emissions by 2030 will not likely be honored if America abandons mitigation and turns toward self-protection. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations will then increase at a faster rate, accelerating the pace of climate change and imposing steep costs on more vulnerable tropical countries, which lack the options or resources to self-protect. In the end, even the United States will not be able to self-protect, given the likelihood of ice sheet loss and a major sea level rise.

In the case of obesity as well, the adaptation temptation looms. America is already turning to options such as new medical drugs, surgeries and physical accommodations for those who become obese. Medical treatments do get results. Between 1994 and 2010, obesity prevalence among diabetic Americans increased from 35 percent to 57 percent, yet the age-adjusted death rate among diabetics declined from 36 percent to 17 percent. Relying on treatment rather than prevention is, after all, a distinctly American approach to healthcare. By some calculations, 70 percent of the illnesses currently being treated in the United States could have been prevented. This is also one reason per capita healthcare costs in the United States are two and a half times greater than the rich country average. Under-investing in prevention also leaves America with inferior health outcomes compared to other rich countries. Out of 17 wealthy countries, the United States ranks last for life expectancy at birth for men, and next to last for women. An adaptation response to obesity would put America further behind.

Obesity adaptation also fails for America on equity grounds. The groups in the United States most likely to become obese - racial minorities, single-parent households and those with only a high-school education or less - are those least able to access quality medical care. They will thus be least likely to get adaptation assistance. Obesity in America is twice as high among children whose parents lack a high-school diploma, and these children are often off the medical grid. Adaptation and treatment options can work well enough for upper-income and college-educated Americans, because they have ready access to medical services and more often get the social reinforcement needed to avoid becoming obese in the first place. For Americans with less education and fewer resources, an adaptation approach is far less promising.

When it comes to fuel and food excess, then, adaptation responses will be a road to greater inequality in two respects. For climate change, poor tropical countries abroad will suffer the most if America opts for self-protection. When it comes to obesity, America's own poor will be left behind.

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America is just gross: Our super-sized appetites -- and the lobbyists who help make us obese

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We're exceptional, all right: At consuming, overeating, using the world's resources and never taking responsibility

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It's believed that the indigenous people in Chile only doesterrorist acts, they are all poor, and they were made to do that stuff.

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El terrorismo, de acuerdo a nuestra ley, y en armonía con el derecho internacional, consiste en la comisión de delitos graves con el fin de "producir en la población, o en una parte de ella, el temor justificado de ser víctima de delitos de la misma especie, sea por la naturaleza y efectos de los medios empleados, sea por la evidencia de que obedece a un plan premeditado de atentar contra una categoría o grupo determinado de personas, sea porque se cometa para arrancar o inhibir resoluciones de la autoridad o imponerle exigencias". Entre esos delitos graves se cuentan homicidios, lesiones e incendios.

Siguiendo dicha definición, el violentismo mapuche que viene produciéndose en cada vez más sectores de La Araucanía es, a todas luces, terrorismo. Esto, porque los delitos graves cometidos por grupos etnonacionalistas se han dirigido contra propietarios y trabajadores por el sólo hecho de vivir en sectores reivindicados como "propiedad ancestral". Luego, cualquier persona que habite o trabaje en ciertos espacios rurales puede tener el temor fundado de volverse víctima de estas acciones, cuyo objetivo es aterrorizarlas y forzar al gobierno a ceder dichos terrenos a comunidades mapuches.

Estos grupos terroristas son mapuches, porque sus miembros se identifican como tales y por su ideario etnonacionalista orientado a expulsar a quienes no son parte de dicha etnia de la zona que reivindican. De esto no debe seguirse que todos los mapuches sean terroristas o algo por el estilo. El racismo chileno siempre ha sido parte del problema.

El poder de fuego de estos grupos ha ido creciendo, pero sigue siendo limitado. No son una guerrilla. No tienen bases ni controlan directamente territorios. Son bandas coordinadas en secreto para realizar atentados y luego seguir con sus actividades normales, utilizando a su favor el carácter cerrado de las comunidades indígenas y la históricamente justificada falta de lealtad de sus miembros en relación al Estado chileno. También utilizan la amenaza para reducir al silencio a potenciales informantes. Esto hace muy difícil identificarlos y enfrentarlos.

Lo dicho claramente desaconseja un despliegue militar. Sería un tremendo favor comunicacional a estas bandas, que lo explotarían para victimizarse nacional e internacionalmente y humillar a nuestras Fuerzas Armadas. Es probable, por ejemplo, que usen mujeres y niños en actos de provocación. Jamás van a enfrentar a un ejército profesional, pero pueden causarle un fuerte daño reputacional, sin que haya logro alguno.

Es importante, por ahora, reforzar la capacidad de respuesta de las policías en la zona, así como la protección perimetral de potenciales objetivos. Pero igual de importante es construir una condena transversal tanto al terrorismo mapuche como a su ideología racista. Este no es un tema de izquierdas y derechas. Tampoco de apoyar o no la causa mapuche. Aquí están en juego los principios más básicos de la convivencia democrática: el etnonacionalista nos dice que una agresión está bien o mal dependiendo de la identidad étnica de la víctima. Si no hay un rechazo común a este postulado -que incluya a intelectuales y líderes mapuches- estaremos en las puertas del infierno.

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El terrorismo, de acuerdo a nuestra ley, y en armonía con el derecho internacional, consiste en la comisión de delitos graves con el fin de "producir en la población, o en una parte de ella, el temor justificado de ser víctima de delitos de la misma especie, sea por la naturaleza y efectos de los medios empleados, sea por la evidencia de que obedece a un plan premeditado de atentar contra una categoría o grupo determinado de personas, sea porque se cometa para arrancar o inhibir resoluciones de la autoridad o imponerle exigencias".

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It is believed that in france everyone have a special way of dressing and only eat baguettes.

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I mean, almost every culture has its stereotypes, but it seems that the French have more than average.

These are some of the ones I have heard:
" French women are supermodel thin" ,
"French people don't wash themselves",
"French people wear stripes and berets",
"French people don't like foreigners".

Of course, there are plenty more. But how are we supposed to know if these stereotypes actually have any truth to them?

In 2016 I moved to Paris for 6 months as part of my Erasmus experience (I also took the opportunity to visit a lot of France) - this was the perfect opportunity to find out in person if the typical French stereotypes were true or just old sayings.

Here is a list of 6 stereotypes about the French I found to actually be true - take a look!

1 - The French love cheese

I have to say this stereotype about the French is indeed true. During my Erasmus experience, I was truly amazed at the sheer quantity of French cheeses I saw in supermarket aisles!

I live in London and our supermarkets don't have anywhere near as many brands of cheeses.

Apparently, there are up to 400 different varieties of cheese in France (which is an incredible number). What we have to remember is that most regions in France tend to produce their own varieties of cheese.

Cheese is a big part of French culture - it is often eaten after a main course and just before dessert. Do you know there are very precise ways of cutting a piece of French cheese? Follow the link to read Camille's article about it!

2 - The French take their culture seriously

The French are known to be proud of their culture. And why shouldn't they be? Art, film and history are highly appreciated in France.

You just have to think of the countless famous museums! Some of the most famous artists were originally French: Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse... and art is still an important part of French culture, as many French people visit and regularly enjoy museums and galleries.

The French also have a massive film industry. I was surprised to see how many cinemas there were in Paris, dotted all over the city.

I read online that "Paris has more movies showing at any one time than any other city in the world." That enough shows the extent to which the French appreciate movies!

Then there are of course all the château's brimming with history and even more art (Versailles perhaps being the most famous.)

So yes, the stereotype is true- the French love their culture!!

3 - The French are unfriendly

Ha! This is the most common stereotype I hear about the French. Is it true?

Well... yes and no. Let me explain. Firstly, I have to say that every culture has rude people. That's just a fact. I've met a fair share of unfriendly people here in the U.K.

There is the classic stereotype that Parisians in particular are quite unfriendly. I did find this to be quite true whilst living there. What I mean by this is that they definitely don't smile as much as the British for example. They actually looked a bit pissed off!!

Also, when entering shops and restaurants, and attempting to speak French with the French, they would either:
1. Respond in English,
2. Pretend not to understand me (Look, I know my French wasn't flawless at the time but it was certainly understandable... hahaha!)

That hurt my ego!!!! (But I can understand that they must get fed up of seeing soo many tourists daily).

I traveled a lot throughout France, and my impression was that the people in the South or in the countryside were more friendly and approachable. That's just my experience.

I think there is also a cultural difference in that the French are more direct people, whilst the English and Americans tend to sugarcoat things a little. For example, if someone offers you a coffee and you refuse, they may not insist like we would... We would say something like: "are you sure? It's no problem at all since I'm making one for myself". The French offer once. If you refuse, no coffee for you!

Readers, I would love to hear your thoughts on this one!!!

4 - The French love bread

Ahh... France, the land of baguettes.

Yes, indeed the French love their bread - apparently up to 98% of the French population eat bread every day! There is actually a best baguette competition every year - I find that so cool.

Whilst in Paris, it was not uncommon to see people walking outside with a baguette under their arms straight from little bakeries. What I was not aware of is that there are actually different types of baguette in France (I thought there was just one- the classic). Camille wrote a whole article about why you shouldn't just buy a baguette in France. See, you learn something new every day!

The baguette is usually a staple for every meal in France. I mean... I don't blame them, they're delicious.

5 - The French smoke a lot

Yet another stereotype which has some truth to it - French people have a reputation for smoking a lot.

I noticed visibly that there were more smokers in France than in the U.K for example, particularly at social events or whilst drinking wine at a terrasse.

I'm not sure if smoking is considered to be 'cool' or just something that is socially the norm? However, the number of smokers is apparently dropping (and it is generally forbidden to smoke indoors according to the law). That's good news, isn't it?

6 - The French love drinking wine

Yup, yup, yup.
Drinking wine is a huge part of the French culture for sure.

We also have to remember that they are one of the world's largest wine producers. Wine can be drunk on a daily basis in France- it's not just saved for special occasions. Rosé, blanc, rouge ... they are all treasured in France.

To the French, drinking wine is all about enjoyment, just being and savoring every drop.

Wine tends to be reserved for meal times. A bottle of wine in France is actually cheaper than you might think- because again, it is something that is appreciated all year around, rather than just on special occasions.

So those are my 6 French stereotypes! Do you have any other stereotypes about the French you find to be true?

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6 Stereotypes About the French That Are Actually True

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Have you realized there are so many stereotypes about the French? 6 stereotypes about the French that actually have some truth to them!

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Everyone all around the world believes that Japanese people are all shy and polite, but they were also made to embrace their 'Kawaii' culture.

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Stereotypes of Japanese people - Wikipedia

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Stereotypes of the Japanese include real or imagined characteristics of the Japanese people used by people who see the Japanese people as a single and homogenous group. Many of these stereotypes overlap with generic East Asian stereotypes.

Common stereotypes

Japanese people are often depicted as being shy or quiet, particularly when traveling abroad. Historically, being calm and quiet has been viewed as a virtue in Japan since the samurai period.

A platter of sushi

Sushi is an iconic example of Japanese cuisine. Many foreigners assume the Japanese consume sushi on a regular basis, when in fact it is often reserved for special occasions.

Additionally, because Japan is one of the few countries that continues to practice commercial whaling, the Japanese are often stereotyped as eating whale and dolphin meat.

Japanese media has a reputation for being dark, violent, and surreal. Famous examples of Japanese media include anime (animation), manga (comic strips), and films (most notably featuring Godzilla).

Japanese variety shows in particular have a reputation for being surreal and overly cruel. Japanese game shows have been parodied on the Saturday Night Live sketch Quiz Kings and in The Simpsons episode Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo. The American television network ABC produced a series titled I Survived a Japanese Game Show based on Japanese variety shows.

In addition, due to its prevalence in hentai, the Japanese are often ridiculed for enjoying tentacle erotica.

Kawaii fashion

, or cuteness culture, has become a prominent subculture in Japan, demonstrated in certain genres of anime and manga, handwriting, clothing, personal appearance, and characters such as Hello Kitty. Cuteness has been widely adopted as part of mainstream Japanese culture and national identity.

Politeness is a major part of Japanese culture. The Japanese language contains two types of honorific expressions: one to show respect, and one to show modesty. The Japanese often rarely outright reject something.[clarification needed ] Bowing is done as a common greeting in Japan.

Japan is often stereotyped as being highly technologically advanced. Japan leads the world in the robotics industry. Japanese toilets, featuring heated seats and electronic bidets, are regarded as more advanced than Western toilets.

References

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Stereotypes of Japanese people - Wikipedia

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Stereotypes of the Japanese include real or imagined characteristics of the Japanese people used by people who see the Japanese people as a single and homogenous group. Many of these stereotypes overlap with generic East Asian stereotypes. Japanese people are often depicted as being shy or quiet, particularly when traveling abroad.

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It is thought that everyone in Greece is very hairy and wear a tunic all the time.

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Stereotypes aren't exactly the nicest thing in the world. Most of the time they pertain to something negative about a culture, race, or ethnicity, but there's the odd time where they can be viewed as funny and/or innocent. The stereotypes that really suck are the ones that derive from a stigma regarding a culture's past. These are nearly impossible to shake, as a lot of them are deeply embedded in our subconscious thanks to books, what we learned in school, society in general, and different forms of media.

Greeks, for one, are not exempt from these labels. We, like every other ethnicity in the world, have been painted with the all-too-familiar "same brush". And how are we supposed to wash these stereotypes clean of our image? Well, it's kind of hard, unless you've proven yourself to a group of friends, family, or acquaintances to be the opposite of your typical Greek.

That being said, here are some of the stereotypes often associated with being Greek. And whether you agree with them or not, deep down inside you probably can't help but grin in approval with most of them. Here they are: Greeks are stereotyped to be...

This stereotype has some truth to it, because Greece does have a party culture. The stereotype, on the other hand, does not apply to everyone. It's also worth noting that liking parties isn't something that is exclusive to the Greeks. If you asked people in literally any country on Earth, "Do you like parties?" the majority of them would undoubtedly respond, "Yes." Outside of Greece, the perception that all Greeks enjoy partying is most likely the result of a few reasons. Most tourists that arrive for vacation in Greece spend the majority of their time partying on Greek islands like Mykonos, Ios, Paros, or visit nightclubs in Athens, Thessaloniki and other mainland. They don't get to really experience much of what everyday life is like for the vast majority of Greeks. Some Greeks do frequent 'Bouzoukia' which is live Greek entertainment in Athens or Thessaloniki. Much less people attend nowadays with all the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions, closures, and curfews. In their hay day, the 'Bouzoukia' would have thousands of dancing Greeks on tables even on weekdays!

Sorry for the visual, but it just really helps drive home the point. While hairy men (and women) exist in every culture, for some reason Greeks get a lot of flack for sporting fuzz on parts of their bodies where typically not much of it grows.

This stereotype has some truth to it. Many Greeks live at home until they get married. However, we are in the 21st century and many Greek daughters and sons now move out before they marry to have their independence and privacy. Greeks have somewhat become less strict on this traditional rule now in the year 2022. That's not to say that the majority don't still live at home.

Why would Greeks possibly converse in a quiet manner when there's a one-way volume button buried deep in our vocal chords? Being Greek almost always means that you love to socialize, and that of course means that you love to talk. Now that's fine and all, except for the fact that when it happens, it's usually done at a decible level a lot higher than your average talker. This is because Greeks don't believe in whispering. The louder you are, the more right you are.

The older Greeks get, the more they complain of health problems. You most likely have heard an aunt or uncle, mom, or dad complaining about back problems, headache, feet hurting and other health related ailments! Greeks will often share medical history with people in conversation. One of the most hilarious MBFGW scenes is when Aunt Voula shares her "bobopsy" biopsy experience with Ian Miller's parents! LOL!

This one is a little bit of an anomoly when it comes to Greek stereotypes, because as much as we are care free, we also don't take shit from anybody. Case in point: the current crisis going on in Greece and the amount of protests because of it. The irony in all of it is that while (I believe) the majority of the problem is a result of incompetent governing, it also has a lot to do with the stereotypical notion that Greeks have a knack for not worrying a whole lot until it comes to crunch time. However, at the end of the day, no matter how many problems there may be, we still realize how important it is to kick back, relax, and not stress too much.

For Greeks, the only thing better than movies and soap operas are real life dramas. Actually, for many, gossiping is even considered a hobby. Of course I'm being overdramatic when I stress how much Greeks like talking about the latest in the grapevine, but that still doesn't mean there isn't some truth to the fact that we love knowing scoops about our neighbours, their neighbours, and their relatives neighbours.

Boy oh boy, this one isn't even a question. Now I know that smoking is prevalent in almost every country, but if you can find me a single kid living in Greece over the age of 13 who hasn't finished at least one pack of smokes.

According to media coverage and the thousands protesting in Greece over the last year, you would think that every Greek in Greece is a "antivaxxer". However, according to reports, statistics show that 17% of Greeks in Greece are against getting vaccinated in 2022.

As a Greek, as soon as your gender is confirmed upon birth, you are immediately drawn to either your mother or father, and they will forever protect you from any fire-breathing dragons or other evil that the world may throw your way. If you're a boy, mom will cook, feed, care, and clean for you until you're well beyond your adult years and finally ready to move on. If you're a girl, daddy will protect, provide, comfort, and love you until the first man (based on dad's approval) sweeps you off your feet. FACTS.

Did we miss any? Let us know in the comment section below.

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The Top 10 Greek Stereotypes | Greek Gateway

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Greeks, for one, are not exempt from these labels. We, like every other ethnicity in the world, have been painted with the all-too-familiar "same brush". And

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Everyone thinks that Asian people in general are math wizards and are almost made for equations; however, this was introduced by Hollywood.

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Can being compared to a calculator ever be funny? Fox Television Animation

The narrative that "Asians are good at math" is pervasive in the United States. Young children are aware of it. College students' academic performance can be affected by it.

On the surface, the "Asians are good at math" narrative sounds like a compliment. After all, what's wrong with saying that someone is good at something? But as I have explained in a journal article, there are two problems. First, the narrative is false. Second, it is racist. And in the midst of an upsurge in violent attacks against people identified as Asian, it's worth remembering that the core of anti-Asian racism has always been dehumanization.

I'm an experienced teacher and researcher of STEM education. Research tells us that racism is a part of students' classroom experiences in these subjects.

If we don't understand how racism works - even in supposedly "neutral" areas like STEM - we might unintentionally recycle racist ideas.

Debunking the myth

As with many racial stereotypes, people are genuinely curious whether the "Asians are good at math" narrative could be true. There are videos on YouTube with several million views asking that question.

Don't test scores prove the narrative? In fact, they don't. On international exams, it's true that Asian countries are among the top performers in math. But it's also true that other Asian nations rank 38th, 46th, 59th and 63rd. Interestingly, those top performers also lead in reading - but there isn't a narrative that "Asians are good at literature."

Domestically, it's the same story. Research shows considerable variation in mathematical performance among different Asian ethnic groups in the U.S. If all Asian people were innately gifted in math, we shouldn't see this kind of variation.

A better explanation has to do with education policy and federal immigration laws. Countries that invest in teacher education and high-quality curriculum do better on international tests. In the U.S., the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act gave preference to STEM professionals from Asia. That policy affected my own parents, who were able to immigrate to the U.S. under that law, not because South Asian people are naturally good doctors.

'Mongoloid' to 'model minority'

So if it's not true, why do we say it?

Today, Asians are often seen as the "model minority" - hardworking, academically talented and professionally successful - but it wasn't always that way.

In the 18th century, Asian people were classified as "mongoloids," a racist term based on the pseudoscience of craniometry. Whereas "caucasoids" (white people) were deemed full human beings with superior intellect, all people of color were considered underevolved.

From the late 19th century, a new image of Asian people was born: national threat. Chinese immigrants were seen as an economic threat to white American workers, and Japan became a military threat during World War II.

Asian people in the U.S. continue to experience racism even today. In fact, the "model minority" idea has always been a way to pit Asian people against supposedly "nonmodel" groups - in other words, non-Asians of color.

The implication is: If Asians can do it, why can't you?

People, not robots

Even though the "Asians are good at math" narrative is false, it still has a real impact on people's lives. Like the "model minority" myth, it falsely positions non-Asians of color as mathematically inferior. It can also be a source of pressure for Asian students. But the real impact of the "Asians are good at math" narrative goes deeper.

Take, for example, a scene from an episode of the long-running adult cartoon "Family Guy."

The main character, Peter, is reminiscing about taking a math exam. As the shot pans over other students, each take out a calculator from their pocket. Peter pulls out a boy with Asian features, prods him with a pencil and says: "Do math!"

This might seem funny at first, but the underlying message is clear: Asian people aren't seen as human beings; they are calculating machines. Asians are literally objectified, seen as capable of doing things at a speed and scale that "normal" people can't do. In other words, they are dehumanized.

Calculators are capable of only procedural tasks, not creativity. For Asian people, this implies that while they can succeed in the technical STEM subjects, the humanities and creative arts aren't for them.

Part of what's going on has to do with how society understands "good at math." Math is widely considered to be among the hardest subjects to learn. Those that can do it are often seen as "nerds." Movies about mathematicians like "A Beautiful Mind" and "The Imitation Game" usually portray them as antisocial. Mathematicians might be considered brilliant, but they aren't seen as "normal."

Usually we think about dehumanization in terms of intellectual deficit. For example, Americans in the 21st century still associate African American people with apes, a racist trope. What's happening with Asian people is different but still harmful. They become hyperintelligent robots.

Resisting the narrative

We all can play a role in resisting this false narrative.

Teachers can help by monitoring the kinds of learning opportunities they give Asian students. Do they treat them like calculators - only giving them rote procedural tasks - or do Asian students get to show their creativity and to present ideas in front of the class? To help teachers track biases, my research team has developed a free web app called EQUIP.

Most people easily recognize overtly racist behavior and language. But I believe we also need to learn how to spot racism in its more subtle forms. The next time you hear someone say "Asians are good at math," don't hear it as a joke - hear it as racism.

[ Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter. ]

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Asians are good at math? Why dressing up racism as a compliment just doesn't add up

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The narrative that "Asians are good at math" is pervasive in the United States. Young children are aware of it. College students' academic performance can be affected by it. On the surface, the "Asians are good at math" narrative sounds like a compliment. After all, what's wrong with saying that someone is good at something?

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Everyone in perú is indigenous and there isn't any developed cities.

the Indigenous people in Peru represent about 25.7% of people in the country

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Women protesting for their rights in Iran.

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Iran's government is known all around the world for its lack of women's rights. They make women wear a hijab when in public and are not allowed to have basic rights like voting or free-traveling.

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During the late 20th and early 21st centuries in Iran, women's rights have been severely restricted, compared with those in most developed nations. The World Economic Forum's 2017 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Iran 140, out of 144 countries, for gender parity.

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According to our investigation we see that Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say that women in Saudi Arabia still are not allowed to marriage make family, and divorce, despite the reforms the Saudi government continues to target and repress women's rights activists and movements.

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Women's rights in Saudi Arabia - Wikipedia

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Women's rights in Saudi Arabia is a topic of concern and controversy internationally. Saudi women have experienced major legal rights reforms since 2017, after facing Wahhabi religious fundamentalist dominance for decades.

According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, women in Saudi Arabia still experience discrimination in relation to marriage, family, and divorce, despite the reforms, and the Saudi government continues to target and repress women's rights activists and movements. Prominent feminist campaigns include the Women to Drive Movement and the anti male-guardianship campaign, which have resulted in significant advances in women's rights.

Women's societal roles in Saudi Arabia are heavily affected by Islamic and local traditions of the Arabian Peninsula. Wahhabism and the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam, as well as the traditions of the Arabian Peninsula and national and local laws, all impact women's rights in Saudi Arabia.

The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2022 ranked Saudi Arabia as number 127 out of 146 countries. However, in the World Bank's 2021 Women, Business, and the Law index, Saudi Arabia scored 80 out of 100, an above-average global score. The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) elected Saudi Arabia to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women for 2018 to 2022, a move that was widely criticized by the international community. According to the World Bank, Saudi Arabia has been making significant improvements to working conditions for women since 2017, addressing issues of mobility, sexual harassment, pensions, and workplace rights including employment discrimination protections.

In 1999, Saudi Arabia agreed to issue women national ID cards.

In 2011, King Abdullah allowed women to vote for the first time in the 2015 local elections and be appointed to the Consultative Assembly, the national legislature.

In 2013, Saudi Arabia allowed women to ride motorbikes and bicycles in recreational areas.

Since 2013, the Consultative Assembly has required that women hold at least 20% of seats, which exceeded the representation of women in the United States Congress at one point.

In September 2017, King Salman issued a decree allowing women to drive, lifting the decades-old ban on female drivers.

As of October 2017, women were allowed into sport stadiums.

In 2018, public statements by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and legislation restricting the powers of the religious police led many Saudi women to abandon wearing the hijab in public.

As of August 1, 2019, women have the right to register for divorce and marriage, apply for passports and other official documents, and travel abroad without their guardian's permission. The laws also extend employment-discrimination protections to women, allow them to register as co-head of a household, live independently from their husband, and to become eligible for the guardianship of minors.

In December 2019, Saudi Arabia issued a ban on marriages for people under the age of 18 for both sexes.

In August 2020, the Saudi Cabinet approved an amendment that deletes the articles which prohibited women from working at night and working in hazardous jobs and industries.

Beginning in June 2021, Saudi Arabia allowed single, divorced, or widowed women to live independently without permission from their male guardians.

As of July 2021, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has allowed women to register to perform the Hajj without being accompanied by a mahram.

In February 2022, the Saudi Arabia women's national football team competed in, and won, their first ever international match, a friendly against Seychelles by the score of 2-0 located in Malé, Maldives.

In March 2022, Muslim women over the age of 45 were allowed to perform the Umrah without a male guardian. Shortly thereafter, a new decision was announced allowing Muslim women under 45 years old to travel without a male guardian to perform both the Hajj and Umrah rites.

On 22 September 2022, Saudi Arabia announced it would send its first woman into space in early 2023 as part of the Saudi Space Commission's new space program.

On 5 January 2023, FIFA appointed the first Saudi woman international referee.

On 11 January 2023, King Salman approved an amendment of the Saudi nationality law that will allow Saudi women married to foreign men to pass on Saudi citizenship to their children. This represents a major change to the kingdom's citizenship laws, and it has been debated since 2016.

A Saudi woman riding a horse in Souk Okaz, a yearly cultural festival in the outskirts of Taif

Gender roles in Saudi society come from local culture and interpretations of Sharia law, or the divine will. Scholars of the Quran and hadith (sayings and accounts of Muhammad's life) derive its interpretations. In Saudi culture, the Sharia is interpreted according to a strict Sunni Islam form known as the way of the Salaf (righteous predecessors) or Wahhabism. The law is mostly unwritten, leaving judges with significant discretionary power, which they usually exercise in favor of tribal traditions.[72] Activists such as Wajeha al-Huwaider compared the condition of Saudi women in 2007 to slavery.[73]

Varying interpretations have led to controversy. For example, Sheikh Ahmed Qassim Al-Ghamdi, chief of the Mecca region's Islamic religious police, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, also known as the mutaween, has said that Sharia doesn't prohibit ikhtilat (gender mixing).[74][75] Meanwhile, Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak, another prominent cleric, issued a fatwa stating that proponents of ikhtilat should be killed.[76]

According to the Encyclopedia of Human Rights, sex segregation is a key aspect of Islamic legal theory used to curtail women's rights. The Sharia legal notion of 'shielding from corruption' ( dar al-fasaad) justifies this segregation.

Many Saudis do not see Islam itself as the main impediment to women's rights, and "It's the culture, not the religion" is a common Saudi saying.[77] According to the Library of Congress, customs of the Arabian peninsula also affect women's places in Saudi society. The peninsula is the ancestral home of patriarchal, nomadic tribes, in which separation of women and men, and namus (honour), are considered central.[citation needed ] According to one female journalist, "If the Qu'ran does not address the subject, then the clerics will err on the side of caution and make it haram [forbidden]. The driving ban for women is the best example."[74] Sabria Jawhar has stated, "if all women were given the rights the Qu'ran guarantees us, and not be supplanted by tribal customs, then the issue of whether Saudi women have equal rights would be reduced."[78][79]

Saudis often invoke the life of Muhammad to prove that Islam allows for strong women. His first wife, Khadijah, was a powerful businesswoman who employed him and proposed marriage on her own.[80] His wife Aisha commanded an army at the Battle of Bassorah and is the source of many hadiths.[81][82]

The level of enforcement of various rules can vary by region: Jeddah is relatively permissive, while Riyadh and the surrounding Najd region, origin of the House of Saud, have stricter traditions.[83]

Enforcement of the Kingdom's strict moral code, including hijab and separation of the sexes, is often handled by the mutaween (also Hai'a)-a special committee of Saudi men sometimes called "religious police." Mutaween have some law enforcement powers. For example, mutaween have the power to detain Saudi citizens or resident foreigners for doing anything deemed immoral. While the anti-vice committee is active across the Kingdom, it is particularly active in Riyadh, Buraydah and Tabuk.

The 1979 Iranian Revolution and subsequent Grand Mosque Seizure in Saudi Arabia caused the government to implement stricter enforcement of Sharia. Saudi women who were adults before 1979 recall driving, inviting unrelated men into their homes (with the door open), and being in public without an abaya or niqab.[74][86] 1979 was also a pivotal year for the emergence of women's roles in Saudi music, art, and culture.[87] The subsequent September 11th attacks against the World Trade Center in 2001, on the other hand, are often viewed as precipitating cultural change away from strict fundamentalism.[78][81][88]

According to The Economist, a 2006 Saudi government poll found that 89% of Saudi women did not think women should drive, and 86% did not think women should work with men.[91] However, this was directly contradicted by a 2007 Gallup poll, which found that 66% of Saudi women and 55% of Saudi men agreed that women should be allowed to drive.[92] Moreover, that same poll found that more than 8 in 10 Saudi women (82%) and three-quarters of Saudi men (75%) agreed that women should be allowed to hold any job for which they are qualified.[92]

500 Saudi women attended a 2006 lecture in Riyadh that opposed loosening traditional gender roles and restrictions. Mashael al-Eissa, a writer, opposed reforms. She argued that Saudi Arabia is the closest thing to an ideal and pure Islamic nation, and that it is under threat from "imported Western values."[93]

In 2013, former lecturer Ahmed Abdel-Raheem polled female students at Al-Lith College for Girls at Umm al-Qura University in Mecca and found that 79% of the participants opposed lifting the driving ban for women. One of the students who took part in the poll commented, "In my point of view, female driving is not a necessity because in the country of the two holy mosques every woman is like a queen. There is [someone] who cares about her; and a woman needs nothing as long as there is a man who loves her and meets her needs; as for the current campaigns calling for women's driving, they are not reasonable. Female driving is a matter of fun and amusement, let us be reasonable and thank God so much for the welfare we live in."[94]

Some Saudi women, including educated ones, who have been supportive of traditional gender roles, have insisted that loosening the bans on women driving and working with men is part of an onslaught of Westernized ideas meant to weaken Islam.[93] Many have also taken the position that Saudi Arabia is uniquely in need of conservative values because it is the center of Islam.[93] Some Saudi female advocates of government reform reject foreign criticism of Saudi limitations upon rights for "failing to understand the uniqueness of Saudi society."[93][76][88]

Journalist Maha Akeel, a frequent critic of her government's restrictions on women, states that Western critics do not understand Saudi Arabia. "Look, we are not asking for... women's rights according to Western values or lifestyles... We want things according to what Islam says. Look at our history, our role models."[81] According to former Arab News managing editor John R. Bradley, Western pressure for broadened rights is counterproductive, particularly pressure from the United States, given the "intense anti-American sentiment in Saudi Arabia after September 11."[97]

Under previous Saudi law, all females were required to have a male guardian (wali), typically a father, brother, husband, or uncle ( mahram). In 2019, this law was partially amended to exclude women over 21 years old from the requirement of a male guardian.[48] The new amendment also granted women rights in relation to the guardianship of minor children.[48][49] Previously, girls and women were forbidden from traveling, conducting official business, or undergoing certain medical procedures without permission from their male guardians.[98] In 2019, Saudi Arabia allowed women to travel abroad, register for divorce or marriage, and apply for official documents without the permission of a male guardian.

Male guardians have duties to, and rights over, women in many aspects of civic life. A United Nations Special Rapporteur document states:

Legal guardianship of women by a male is practiced in varying degrees and encompasses major aspects of women's lives. The system is said to emanate from social conventions, including the importance of protecting women, and from religious precepts on travel and marriage, although these requirements were arguably confined to particular situations.[72]

The official law, if not the custom, requiring a guardian's permission for a woman to seek employment was repealed in 2008.[76][99][100][101][102]

Some examples of that further highlight the ramifications of these restrictions include:

In August 2005, a court in the northern part of Saudi Arabia ordered the divorce of Fatima Mansour, a 34-year-old mother of two, from her husband, even though they were happily married and her father (deceased) had approved the marriage. The divorce was initiated by her half-brother using his powers as her male guardian. He alleged that his half-sister's husband was from a tribe of a low status compared to the status of her tribe, and that the husband had failed to disclose this when he first asked for Fatima's hand. If sent back to her brother's home, Fatima feared domestic violence.[107][108] She spent four years in jail with her daughter before the Supreme Judicial Council overturned the decision.[109]

In 2008, a wali married off his eight-year-old daughter to a 47-year-old man in order to have his debts forgiven.[110] The man's wife sought an annulment to the eight-year-old girl's marriage, but the Saudi judge refused to grant it.[111]

In a 2009 case, a father vetoed several of his daughter's attempts to marry outside their tribe, and sent her to a mental institution as punishment.[112]

Guardianship requirements are not written law, but instead are applied according to the customs and understanding of particular officials and institutions (hospitals, police stations, banks, etc.). When women initiate official transactions and grievances, the transactions are often abandoned because officers, or the women themselves, believe they need guardian authorization. Officials may demand the presence of a guardian if a woman cannot show an ID card, or if she is fully covered. These conditions make complaints against the guardians themselves extremely difficult.[72]

In 2008, Rowdha Yousef and other Saudi women launched a petition, "My Guardian Knows What's Best for Me," which gathered over 5,000 signatures. The petition defended the status quo and requested punishment for activists who demand "equality between men and women, [and] mingling between men and women in mixed environments."[76]

Liberal activists reject guardianship and find it demeaning to women. They object to being treated like "subordinates" and "children".[78][81] They point to women whose guardians ended their careers, and those who lost their children because they lacked custody rights. The courts recognize obedience to the father as law, even in cases involving adult daughters.[115] Saudi activist Wajeha al-Huwaider agrees that most Saudi men are caring, but "it's the same kind of feeling they have for handicapped people or for animals. The kindness comes from pity, from lack of respect."[76] She compares male guardianship to slavery:[73]

The ownership of a woman is passed from one man to another. Ownership of the woman is passed from the father or the brother to another man, the husband. The woman is merely a piece of merchandise, which is passed over to someone else-her guardian. Ultimately, I think women are greatly feared. When I compare the Saudi man with other Arab men, I can say that the Saudi is the only man who could not compete with the woman. He could not compete, so what did he do with her? The woman has capabilities. When women study, they compete with the men for jobs. All jobs are open to men. 90% of them are open to men. You do not feel any competition. If you do not face competition from the Saudi woman, you have the entire scene for yourself. All positions and jobs are reserved for you. Therefore, you are a spoiled and self-indulged man.

The absurdity of the guardianship system, according to Huwaider, is shown by what would happen if she tried to remarry: "I would have to get the permission of my son."[81]

The Saudi government has approved international and domestic declarations regarding women's rights, and insists that there is no law of male guardianship. Officially, it maintains that international agreements are applied in the courts. International organizations and NGOs, on the other hand, are skeptical: "The Saudi government is saying one thing to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva but doing another thing inside the Kingdom," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.[116] Saudi interlocutors told a UN investigator that international agreements carry little to no weight in Saudi courts.[72]

In 2017, when the Kingdom was elected to the UN women's rights commission, several human rights organizations disapproved of the decision. UN Watch director Hillel Neuer called the decision "absurd" and compared it to "making an arsonist into the town fire chief".[117] Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallström said that Saudi Arabia "ought to be [there] to learn something about women".[118]

In May 2017, the King passed an order allowing women to obtain government services such as education and health care without the permission of a guardian.[41]

In 2019, Saudi Arabia adopted new measures allowing women to travel abroad without needing permission.[119] In August 2019, a royal decree was published in the Saudi official gazette Umm al-Qura that would allow Saudi women over 21 to travel abroad without permission from a male guardian. Several other liberalizing measures were also included in the decree; however, it is unclear whether these measures have officially come into force.[120][121]

In April 2020, HRW reported that a number of Saudi women using pseudonyms on Twitter had stated demands for the abolition of the male guardianship system and sexual harassment. The rights organization quoted the women as stating that any attempt to flee abuse was not possible. Women fleeing abuse can still be arrested and forcibly returned to family members.[122]

On 31 August 2022, a viral online footage from an orphanage in Khamis Mushait showed Saudi security forces, including some wearing civilian clothes, chasing and attacking women with tasers, belts, and sticks. The footage sparked a national and global outcry, prompting the Saudi Public Prosecution to open an investigation into the incident.[124] Research by the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights has found that protests at similar facilities have led to harsh prison sentences for those involved.[125]

The Saudi government's smartphone application Absher allows men to control whether women under their guardianship travel outside the kingdom. It also sends alerts to the man if a woman under his guardianship uses her passport at the border. In 2019, Absher came under global criticism. Many international communities and human rights organizations demanded its removal from Google and Apple web stores. Some critics include US Rep. Katherine Clark and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who called the app a "patriarchal weapon".[126] US Senator Ron Wyden demanded the app's immediate removal. He called the Kingdom's control over women "abhorrent."[127] Apple and Google agreed to investigate the app.[128][129] However, following a thorough investigation, Google refused to remove the app from its web store, citing that the app doesn't violate the company's terms and conditions.[130] Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch accused Apple and Google of helping "enforce gender apartheid" by hosting the app.[131]

Some Saudi women say that the Absher app has made their lives easier as everything can be processed online, allowing, for instance, travel approval from a guardian in another city. Human rights critics see the app as a way of normalizing patriarchal control and tracking women's movements.[132]

Namus

Male guardianship is closely related to namus (or sharaf in a Bedouin context), roughly translated as "honor." It also carries connotations of modesty and respectability. The namus of a male includes the protection of the females in his family. He provides for them, and in turn, the women's honor (sometimes called ird) reflects on him. Namus is a common feature of many different patriarchal societies.

Since the namus of a male guardian is affected by that of the women under his care, he is expected to control their behavior. If their honor is lost, especially in the eyes of the community, he has lost control of them. Threats to chastity, in particular, are threats to the namus of the male guardian.[133] Namus can be associated with honor killing.[134]

The hijab arises from the traditional Islamic norm whereby women are expected "to draw their outer garments around them (when they go out or are among men)" and dress in a modest manner.[136] Previously, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, sometimes known as the religious police, has been known to patrol public places with volunteers focused on enforcing strict rules of hijab. With the 2016 reforms of Mohammed bin Salman,[137][138] the power of the CPVPV was drastically reduced, and it was banned "from pursuing, questioning, asking for identification, arresting and detaining anyone suspected of a crime."[139]

Among non-mahram men, women must cover the parts of the body that are considered intimate parts ( awrah). In much of Islam, a woman's face is not considered awrah; however, in Saudi Arabia, and some other Arab states, all of the body is considered awrah except for the hands and eyes. Accordingly, most women are expected to wear the head-covering called the hijab, a full black cloak called an abaya, and a face-veil called niqab. Many historians and Islamic scholars hold that the custom, if not requirement, of the veil predates Islam in parts of the region. They argue that the Quran was interpreted to require the veil as part of adapting it to tribal traditions.[140]

The strictness of the dress code varies by region. In Jeddah, for example, many women go out with their faces and hair uncovered. Riyadh is more conservative by comparison. Some shops sell designer abayat that have elements such as flared sleeves or a tighter form. Fashionable abayat come in colors other than black and may be decorated with patterns and glitter. According to one designer, abayat are "no longer just abayas. Today, they reflect a woman's taste and personality."[81][141][142]

Although the dress code is often regarded in the West as a highly visible symbol of oppression, Saudi women place the dress code low on the list of priorities for reform, and some leave it off entirely.[143] Journalist Sabria Jawhar complains in The Huffington Post that Western readers of her blog are obsessed with her veil. She calls the niqab "trivial":[78][79]

[People] lose sight of the bigger issues like jobs and education. That's the issue of women's rights, not the meaningless things like passing legislation in France or Quebec to ban the burqa ... Non-Saudis presume to know what's best for Saudis, like Saudis should modernize and join the 21st century or that Saudi women need to be free of the veil and abaya ... And by freeing Saudi women, the West really means they want us to be just like them, running around in short skirts, nightclubbing and abandoning our religion and culture.

In 2002, multiple schoolgirls burned to death because religious policemen, who saw that they weren't veiled, prohibited them from fleeing.

Women's entrepreneurship on the rise

Vision 2030 is introducing women to new levels of leadership and economic empowerment. In Saudi Arabia, women entrepreneurs are now managing more small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The number of female entrepreneurs has increased more than 35% over the last decade in 2017.

Several initiatives and programs have been launched in the country to promote and support entrepreneurship among young Saudi women. The General Authority of Small and Medium Enterprises (Monshaat), has introduced a loan guarantee program and regulation to reduce the administrative burden on SMEs. Workshops and training programs are also offered under the Badir Technology Incubators and Accelerators Program to promote an entrepreneurial culture among women university students.

According to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics, Saudi women constitute 33.2% of the native workforce as of 2020. The rate of participation has grown from 14% in 1990 to 33.2% in 2020. Between 2018 and 2020, the proportion of women in the native workforce increased from 20.2% to 33.2%. In February 2019, a report was released indicating that 48% of Saudi nationals working in the retail sector were women.

Some critics complain that women's skills aren't being effectively used, since women make up 70% of students in Saudi institutes of higher education. Some jobs taken by women in almost every other country are reserved for men in Saudi Arabia. For example, the Saudi delegation to the United Nations International Women's Year conference in Mexico City in 1975 and the Decade for Women conference in Nairobi in 1985 were made up entirely of men. Geraldine Brooks wrote, "Even jobs directly concerned with women's affairs were held by men."

Historically, women's employment has been restricted under Saudi law and culture. In 2006, the Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Qusaibi said:

The [Labor] Ministry is not acting to [promote] women's employment since the best place for a woman to serve is in her own home ... therefore no woman will be employed without the explicit consent of her guardian. We will also make sure that the [woman's] job will not interfere with her work at home with her family, or with her eternal duty of raising her children ...

Furthermore, women's work must also have been deemed suitable for the female physique and mentality. Women have been allowed to work only in capacities in which they can exclusively serve other women; there must have been no contact or interaction with the opposite gender. A woman's work should not cause her to travel without a close male relative. This has presented considerable problems, as women were not allowed to drive motor vehicles until 2018, and little to no public transportation exists in the Kingdom. Before women were allowed to drive, most working women traveled to work without a male relative out of necessity.

Consequently, until 2005, women only worked as doctors, nurses, teachers, women's bankers, and in a few other special roles in which they only had contact with women. Almost all of them had college and graduate degrees and were employed either in schools-where men were not permitted to teach girls-or in hospitals, because conservative families prefer that female doctors and nurses treat their wives, sisters, and daughters. Positions of high public office such as judge were prohibited for women.

Women's banks, which first opened in 1980, gave women places to put their money without having any contact with men. These banks employ women exclusively for every position, except for the guards posted at the door to see that no men enter by mistake. Author Geraldine Brooks again wrote, "Usually a guard was married to one of the women employees inside, so that if documents had to be delivered, he could deal with his wife rather than risking even the slight contact taking place between unmarried members of the opposite sex." According to Mona al-Munajjed, a senior advisor with Booz & Company's Ideation Center, the number of Saudi women working in banking grew from 972 in 2000 to 3,700 in 2008.

While the Labor Minister Al-Qusaibi stressed the need for women to stay at home, he also stated that "there is no option but to start [finding] jobs for the millions of women" in Saudi Arabia. Previously, the Labor Ministry banned the employment of men or non-Saudi women in lingerie shops and other stores where women's garments and perfumes were sold.[clarification needed ] This policy started in 2005 when the Ministry announced they would be staffing lingerie shops with women. Since the shops served female customers, employing women would prevent the mixing of sexes in public (). Many Saudi women also disliked discussing the subject of their undergarments with male shop clerks.

This move was met with opposition from within the ministry and from conservative Saudis, who argued the presence of women outside the home encouraged ikhtilat (mixing of sexes) and that, according to their interpretation of Sharia, a woman's work outside the house is against her fitrah (natural state). The few shops that employed women were "quickly closed by the religious police." Women responded by boycotting lingerie shops, and in June 2011, King Abdullah issued another decree giving lingerie shops one year to replace male workers with women. This was followed by similar decrees for shops and shop departments specializing in other products for women such as cosmetics, abayat and wedding dresses. The decrees came at "the height of the Arab Spring" and were "widely interpreted" by activists as an attempt to preempt "pro-democracy protests." The policy has led to further clashes. Conservatives and religious police officers are on one side of the clash; the Ministry and female customers and employees of female-staffed stores are on the other. In 2013, the Ministry and the religious police leadership met to negotiate new terms. In November 2013, 200 religious police signed a letter stating that female employment was causing such a drastic increase in instances of ikhtilat that "their job was becoming impossible."

When women find jobs that are also held by men, they often find it difficult to break into full-time work with employee benefits including allowances, health insurance and social security. According to a report in the Saudi Gazette, an employer told a female reporter that her health insurance coverage did not include care for childbirth, but a male employee was given such coverage for his wife.

Saudi women are now developing professional careers as doctors, teachers and even business leaders, albeit in a process described in 2007 by ABC News as "painfully slow." One such female professional is Dr. Selwa Al-Hazzaa, head of the ophthalmology department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, and in Lubna Olayan, named by and magazines as one of the Arab world's most influential businesswomen.

Some "firsts" in Saudi women's employment occurred in 2013, when the Kingdom registered its first female trainee lawyer, Arwa al-Hujaili; its first female lawyer to be granted an official license from its Ministry of Justice, Bayan Mahmoud Al-Zahran; and the first female Saudi police officer, Ayat Bakhreeba. Bakhreeba earned her master's degree in public law from the Dubai Police Academy, and is the first woman to obtain a degree from that academy. Furthermore, her thesis on "children's rights in the Saudi system" was chosen as the best research paper by the police academy. Additionally, in 2019, Yasmeen Al Maimani was the first Saudi woman to be a commercial pilot.

A World Bank report found that, since 2017, Saudi Arabia has made "the biggest improvement globally" in issues of women's mobility, sexual harassment, retirement age and economic activity. The Kingdom fixed a woman's retirement age at 60, the same as men, thus stretching their earnings and contributions. According to Al Arabiya, "Amendments were adopted to protect women from discrimination in employment, to prohibit employers from dismissing a woman during her pregnancy and maternity leave, and to prohibit gender-based discrimination in accessing financial services."

Saudi Arabia opened non-combat military jobs to women in February 2018. This followed a series of reforms enacted by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to advance the rights of women in Saudi Arabia.

In January 2020, the chief of staff of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces, General Fayyadh Al-Ruwaili, inaugurated the first women's military wing, allowing women to join combat military positions in all branches of the armed forces.

Iffat bint Mohammad Al Thunayan was an activist and pioneer for women's education in Saudi Arabia.

In 2021, female literacy was estimated at 93%, not far behind that of men.[179] The 2021 data stands in stark contrast to that of 1970, when only 2% of women and 15% of men were literate.[180] More women receive secondary and tertiary education than men; 56% of all university graduates in Saudi Arabia were women as of 2019, and in 2008, 50% of working women had a college education, compared to 16% of working men.[181][182][183] As of 2019, Saudi women make up 34.4% of the native work force of Saudi Arabia.[184] The proportion of Saudi women graduating from universities is higher than in Western countries.[185]

One of Saudi Arabia's official educational policies is to promote "belief in the one God, Islam as the way of life, and Muhammad as God's Messenger." Official policy particularly emphasizes religion in the education of girls: "The purpose of educating a girl is to bring her up in a proper Islamic way so as to perform her duty in life, be an ideal and successful housewife and a good mother, ready to do things which suit her nature such as teaching, nursing and medical treatment." The policy also specifies "women's right[s] to obtain suitable education on equal footing with men in light of Islamic laws."[180]

This has changed slightly in recent years; in 2021, nearly 60% of all Saudi university students were female.[189] Some fields, such as law and pharmacy, are beginning to open up for women. Though Saudi women can also study any subject they wish while abroad, the customs of male guardianship and purdah curtail this. In 1992, three times as many men studied abroad on government scholarships, although the ratio had been near 50% in the early 1980s.[180][190]

Child marriage is another factor that hinders women's education. A child wife's responsibilities, such as housework and childbearing, are typically too burdensome for her to continue school. The dropout rate of girls increases around puberty, as they leave school upon marriage. Roughly 25% of college-aged young women do not attend college, and from 2005 to 2006, women had a 60% dropout rate.[clarification needed ][188]

In 2009, the King appointed Norah al-Faiz as deputy minister for women's education; she was the first female cabinet-level official.[83]

In 2019, a new diploma in criminal law was made available to women.[192]

Sarah Attar is a track and field athlete who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics as one of the first two female Olympians representing Saudi Arabia. She also competed in the marathon at the 2016 Olympics.

Saudi Arabia was one of the few countries in the 2008 Olympics without a female delegation, although it does have female athletes.[194]

In June 2012, the Saudi Arabian Embassy in London announced that female athletes would compete in the Olympics in 2012 in London, England, for the first time.[195] Saudi blogger Eman al-Nafjan commented that as of 2012, Saudi girls are prevented from sports education at school, and that Saudi women have very little access to sports facilities. She also said that the two Saudi women who participated in the 2012 Olympics, runner Sarah Attar (who grew up in the United States) and judoka Wojdan Shaherkani, attracted both criticism and support on Twitter; and that Jasmine Alkhaldi, a Filipino swimmer born to a Saudi father, was widely supported by the online Saudi community.[196]

In 2013, the Saudi government sanctioned sports for girls in private schools for the first time.[197]

In their article "Saudi Arabia to let women into sports stadiums," Emanuella Grinberg and Jonny Hallam explain that conservative Saudis adhere to the strictest interpretation of Sunni Islam in the world. Under their guardianship system, women cannot travel or play sports without permission from male guardians. Some of these strict rules in Saudi Arabia have started to change. Mohammed bin Salman declared that by 2018, women would be allowed into sports stadiums. In September 2017, women were allowed to enter King Fahd Stadium for the first time for a celebration commemorating the Kingdom's 87th anniversary. They were seated in a specific section for families. Though welcomed by many, the move drew backlash from conservatives holding on to the country's strict gender segregation rules.[198]

When WWE began holding Saudi Arabia in 2018, the company initially announced that female wrestlers would not be allowed to participate.[199][200] On October 30, 2019, the promotion announced that Lacey Evans and Natalya would take part in the country's first professional wrestling match involving women at that year's edition of WWE Crown Jewel.[201] However, both wrestlers had to substitute their usual revealing attire for bodysuits that covered their arms and legs.[202]

In January 2020, Saudi Arabia hosted the Spanish Super Cup for the first time. The tournament hosted Barcelona, Valencia, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid as the four participants. During the first match of the competition between Real Madrid and Valencia on January 8, Amnesty International workers gathered in front of the Saudi Embassy in Madrid and called for the release of Saudi women rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul and ten other activists. The rights group also informed the public that the match day marked Loujain's 600th day in detention.[203] In January 2020, Human Rights Watch, along with 12 other international human rights organizations, wrote a joint letter to the Amaury Sport Organisation ahead of the Saudi Dakar Rally. In their statement, the rights group urged ASO to use their decision to denounce the suppression of women's rights. The HRW's statement read, "The Amaury Sport Organisation and race drivers at the Dakar Rally should speak out about the Saudi government's mistreatment of women's rights activists for advocating for the right to drive."[204]

Women's football in Saudi Arabia made great strides in 2022, with the women's national team competing in, and winning, their first international match by the score of 2-0 against Seychelles. Later that year in December, Saudi Arabia made a bid to host the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup. Monika Staab, the manager of the Saudi Arabian women's national team, said: "This is an opportunity to bring the tournament to life, inspire a generation, and turbo-charge the continued growth of women's football."[206]

Many of the laws controlling women also apply to citizens of other countries who are relatives of Saudi men. For example, the following groups require a male guardian's permission to leave the country: foreign women married to Saudi men, adult foreign women who are the unmarried daughters of Saudi fathers, and foreign boys under the age of 21 with a Saudi father.[209]

In 2013, Saudi women were allowed to ride bicycles for the first time, although only in parks and other "recreational areas."[210] Female cyclists must be dressed in full body coverings and be accompanied by a male relative.[210] A 2012 film named Wadjda highlighted this issue.

Until June 2018, women were not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world at the time with such a restriction.[211] On September 26, 2017, King Salman decreed that women would be allowed to obtain driver's licenses in the Kingdom, which would effectively grant women the right to drive, within the next year.[212] Salman's decision was backed by a majority of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars. Salman's orders gave responsible departments 30 days to prepare reports for implementation, with the goal of removing the ban on women's driver's licenses by June 2018.[211] Newspaper editorials in support of the decree claimed that women were allowed to ride camels in the time of Muhammad.[213] The ban was lifted on June 24, 2018, and more than 120,000 women applied for driver's licenses that day.[214]

Loujain al-Hathloul was arrested by Saudi Arabian police after driving across the Saudi-UAE border.

The UN Human Rights Office said, "The decision to allow women in Saudi Arabia to drive is a first major step towards women's autonomy and independence, but much remains to be done to deliver gender equality in the Kingdom."[215] Human rights expert Philip Alston and the UN Working Group on discrimination of women encouraged the Saudi regime to demonstrate further reform by repealing other discriminatory laws.[215]

1. Driving a car may lead women to interact with non-mahram males; for example, in the event of traffic accidents.

2. Driving would be the first step in an erosion of traditional values, for example gender segregation.

In 2008, women to drive advocates in Saudi Arabia collected about 1,000 signatures, hoping to persuade King Abdullah to lift the ban, but they were unsuccessful. He said that he thought women would drive when the society was ready for it:[89]

I believe strongly in the rights of women. My mother is a woman. My sister is a woman. My daughter is a woman. My wife is a woman. I believe the day will come when women will drive. In fact if you look at the areas of Saudi Arabia, the desert, and in the rural areas, you will find that women do drive. The issue will require patience. In time I believe that it will be possible. I believe that patience is a virtue.

On International Women's Day 2008, the Saudi feminist activist Wajeha al-Huwaider posted a YouTube video of herself driving in a rural area, where female drivers were tolerated, and requesting a universal right for women to drive. She commented: "I would like to congratulate every group of women that has been successful in gaining rights. And I hope that every woman that remains fighting for her rights receives them soon."[225][better source needed ] Another women's driving campaign started during the 2011 Saudi Arabian protests when Al-Huwaider filmed Manal al-Sharif driving in Khobar and published the video on YouTube and Facebook.[226]

Many skeptics believed that allowing women the right to drive could lead to Western-style openness and an erosion of traditional values.[227]

In September 2011, a woman from Jeddah was sentenced to ten lashes by whip for driving a car.[228] In contrast to this punishment, Maha al-Qahtani, the first woman in Saudi Arabia to receive a traffic ticket, was only fined for the violation itself.[229] The whipping was the first time a woman was punished under the law for driving. Previously, when women were found driving they would normally be questioned and let go after they signed a pledge not to drive again.[230] The whipping sentence followed months of protests by female activists, and just two days after, King Abdullah announced greater political participation for women in the future.[229][228][231] King Abdullah overturned the woman's sentence.[232]

In 2014, another prominent activist, Loujain Al Hathloul, was arrested by Saudi police after crossing the UAE-Saudi border in her car. Although she had a valid UAE license, she was still detained.[233] After being badly treated and facing more than a year's delay in the start of her legal process, she, along with other women's rights activists, attended a hearing with the Saudi court on February 12, 2020. Al-Hathloul was also reportedly tortured by the prison authorities while in solitary confinement.[234][235] By May 15, 2020, al-Hathloul had been detained for two years. Her trial date was pushed back 'indefinitely' due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and her family has also been barred from seeing her amid the outbreak.[236]

In August 2020 al-Hathloul went on a hunger strike for six days, demanding that her parents be allowed to see her at the Al-Ha'ir prison. In October of that same year she started a second hunger strike, demanding the right to contact her family members.[237] She was released in February 2021. However, al-Hathloul is barred from leaving the country.[238][239][240]

The Dubai-based carsharing app service Careem started business in Saudi Arabia in 2013, and Uber arrived in 2014. Women account for 80% of their passengers. The Saudi government has also supported these initiatives as a means of reducing unemployment and, in its Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, has invested equity in both companies. Vehicle for Hire has improved mobility for women, and also promoted employment participation with its improved transport flexibility.[241]

To support working women, the Saudi government has launched the Wusool program, which provides transportation services to them.[242]

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with a Consultative Assembly ( shura) of lawmakers appointed by the king. Prior to a September 2011 announcement by King Abdullah, only men 30 years of age and older could serve as lawmakers. As of 2011, women can be appointed to the Consultative Assembly.[34] Women first joined the Consultative Assembly in January 2013, occupying thirty seats.[243][244]

Women could neither vote nor run for office in the country's first municipal elections in 2005, or in the 2011 election cycle. They campaigned for the right to vote in the 2011 municipal elections, attempting unsuccessfully to register as voters.[246] In September 2011, King Abdullah announced that women would be allowed to vote and run for office in the 2015 municipal elections.[34][72][247][248] Although King Abdullah was no longer alive at the time of the 2015 municipal elections, women were allowed to vote and stand as candidates for the first time in the country's history.[249] Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi was the first female elected official in the country.[250][251] According to unofficial results released to The Associated Press, a total of 20 female candidates were elected to the approximately 2,100 municipal council seats being contested, which made them the first women elected to municipal councils in the country's history.[252]

In court, the testimony of one man equals that of two women. In court proceedings, women generally must deputize male relatives to speak on their behalf.[254]

At age 15, male Saudis receive identity cards that they are required to carry at all times. Before the 21st century, women were not issued cards, but instead were named as dependents on their mahram's (usually their father's or husband's) ID card, so that, "strictly speaking," they were not allowed in public without their mahram.[257]

At the time, it was difficult for women to prove their identity in court. In addition to lacking ID cards, women could not own passports or driver's licenses. Instead, they had to produce two male relations to confirm their identity. If a man denied that the woman in court was his relative, "the man's word would normally be taken," wrote author Harvey North. This system made women vulnerable to false claims on their property and to violations of inheritance rights.[257]

The Ulema, Saudi's religious authorities, opposed the idea of issuing separate identity cards for women since non- mahrams would see women's faces. Many other conservative Saudi citizens argue that cards, which must show a woman's unveiled face, violate purdah and Saudi custom.[258] However, women were eventually issued ID cards.

In 2001, a small number of ID cards were issued for women who had the permission of their mahram.[259] By 2006, women no longer needed male permission to obtain an ID card, and by 2013, ID cards became compulsory for women.[260]

In 2008, women were allowed to enter hotels and furnished apartments without their mahram if they had their national identification cards.[261] In April 2010, a new, optional ID card for women was issued which allows them to travel in countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Women did not need male permission to apply for the card, but in 2010, they still needed male permission to travel abroad.[262] As of 2019, Saudi women over 21 no longer need male permission to travel.[208]

In 2005, the country's religious authority officially banned the practice of forced marriage. Despite this, Saudi Arabia maintained that a marriage contract is officially between the husband-to-be and the father of the bride-to-be. As of 2005, the bride's consent is needed in a marriage. No Saudi citizen can marry a non-Saudi citizen without official permission.[263] In 2016, justice minister Walid al-Samaani announced that clerics who register marriage contracts would have to provide a copy to the bride "to ensure her awareness of her rights and the terms of the contract."[264]

In 2004, a popular television presenter, Rania al-Baz, was severely beaten by her husband. Photographs of her "bruised and swollen face" were published in the press. Her case brought light to domestic violence in Saudi Arabia.[268][269] According to Al-Baz, her husband beat her after she answered the phone without his permission, and he said he intended to kill her.[270]

State data, published in 2012, estimated that between 16 and 50% of married Saudi women suffer intimate partner violence. Domestic violence against women and children was not seen as a crime in Saudi Arabia until 2013.[271] In 2008, the Prime Minister ordered that "social protection units," the Kingdom's version of women's shelters, be expanded. That year, the Prime Minister also ordered the government to draft a national strategy to deal with domestic violence.[272] Some Saudi royal foundations, such as the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue and the King Khalid Foundation, have also led education and awareness efforts against domestic violence.[272] Five years later, Saudi Arabia launched its first major effort against domestic violence: the "No More Abuse" ad campaign.[272]

In August 2013, following a Twitter campaign, the Saudi cabinet approved a law that made domestic violence a criminal offense for the first time. The law calls for a punishment of up to a year in prison and a fine of up to 50,000 riyals (US$13,000), with doubled maximum punishments for repeat offenders.[271] The law criminalizes psychological and sexual abuse, as well as physical abuse. It also includes a provision obliging employees to report instances of abuse in the workplace to their employer.[273] Saudi women's rights activist Suad Abu Dayyeh welcomed the new laws, although she believed law enforcement would need training on domestic abuse. She also said that, given the tradition of male guardianship, the law would be difficult to enforce.[271]

A young couple and their toddler in Mecca

In 2019, Saudi Arabia officially banned child marriages and set the minimum age for marriage as 18 years for both women and men.[274] In 2013, the average age at first marriage for Saudi women was 25.[275][276][277]

Senior clergy originally opposed the push to ban child marriage. They argued that a girl reaches adulthood at puberty. Most Saudi religious authorities have defended the marriage of girls as young as nine and boys as young as fifteen.[278] However, they also believe that a father can marry off his prepubescent daughter so long as consummation is delayed until puberty.[279] A 2009 think-tank report on women's education concluded "Early marriage (before 16 years)... negatively influences a woman's chance of employment and the economic status of the family. It also negatively affects her health as they are at greater risk of dying from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth."[188] A 2004 United Nations report found that 16% of Saudi female teens were or had been married.[263]

In 2013, the Directorate General of Passports allowed Saudi women married to foreigners to sponsor their children so that the children can have residency permits ( iqamas) with their mothers named as the sponsors.[282] Iqamas also grant children the right to work in the private sector in Saudi Arabia while on the sponsorship of their mothers. They also allow mothers to bring their children living abroad back to Saudi Arabia if they have no criminal records. Foreign men married to Saudi women were also granted the right to work in the private sector while on the sponsorship of their wives on condition that the title on their iqamas should be written as "husband of a Saudi wife," and that they should have valid passports enabling them to return to their homes at any time.[283]

Legally, children belong to their father, who has sole guardianship. If a divorce takes place, women may be granted custody of their young children until they reach the age of seven (for girls) and nine (for boys), although sometimes women gain custody of older children. Older children are often awarded to the father or the paternal grandparents. Saudi women cannot confer citizenship to children born to a foreign father.[263]

The Quran states that daughters inherit half as much as sons.[Quran 4:11][284] In some rural areas, some women may not receive inheritance, as they are considered to be dependents of their fathers or husbands. Marrying outside the tribe is also grounds for limiting women's inheritance in rural areas.[263][285]

In some cases, victims of sexual assault are punished for khalwa, or being alone with an unrelated male, prior to the assault. In the 2006 Qatif rape case, an 18-year-old victim of kidnapping and gang rape was sentenced by a Saudi court to six months in prison and 90 lashes. The judge ruled she violated laws on segregation of the sexes, as she was in an unrelated man's car at the time of the attack. She was also punished for trying to influence the court through the media.[289] The Ministry of Justice defended the sentence, saying she committed adultery and "provoked the attack" because she was "indecently dressed."[290] Her attackers were found guilty of kidnapping and were sentenced for prison terms ranging from two to ten years along with up to a thousand lashes.[291]

According to Human Rights Watch, one of the rapists filmed the assault with his mobile phone, but the judges refused to allow it as evidence.[292][293] The victim told ABC News that her brother tried to kill her after the attack.[294] The case attracted international attention: the United Nations criticized social attitudes and the system of male guardianship, both of which deter women from reporting crimes. The UN report argued that women are prevented from escaping abusive environments because of their lack of legal and economic independence. They are further oppressed, according to the UN, by practices surrounding divorce and child custody, the absence of laws criminalizing violence against women, and inconsistencies in the application of laws and procedures.[295] The case prompted Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy to comment, "What kind of God would punish a woman for rape? That is a question that Muslims must ask of Saudi Arabia because unless we challenge the determinedly anti-women teachings of Islam in Saudi Arabia, that Kingdom will always get a free pass."[293] In December 2007, King Abdullah pardoned the victim, but he did not agree that the judge had erred.[72][290]

In 2009, the Saudi Gazette reported that a 23-year-old unmarried woman was sentenced to one year in prison and 100 lashes for adultery for taking a ride from a male stranger. She said she had been gang-raped, became pregnant, and tried unsuccessfully to abort the fetus. The flogging was postponed until after the delivery.[296]

Many Saudi women's rights activists were arrested during a crackdown on May 15, 2018, and have been subjected to sexual violence and torture in prison. Currently, 13 women's rights activists are on trial, and five of them are still in detention for defending women's rights.[297]

Changes in the enforcement of Islamic code have influenced women's rights in Saudi Arabia. The Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the September 11 attacks in 2001 against the United States had significant influence on Saudi cultural history and women's rights.

In 1979, the revolution in Iran led to a fundamentalist resurgence in many parts of the Islamic world. Fundamentalists tried to repel Westernization, and governments defended themselves against revolution. In Saudi Arabia, fundamentalists occupied the Grand Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) and demanded a more conservative state, including "an end of education of women." The government responded with stricter interpretations and enforcement of Islamic laws. Newspapers were discouraged from publishing images of women, and the Interior Ministry discouraged women, including expatriates, from employment. Scholarships for women to study abroad were declined, and wearing the abaya in public became mandatory.

In contrast, the September 11th, 2001 attacks against the United States precipitated a reaction against ultra-conservative Islamic sentiment; fifteen of the nineteen hijackers in the September 11 attacks came from Saudi Arabia. Since then, the mutaween have become less active, and reformists have been appointed to key government posts. The government says it has withdrawn support from schools deemed extremist and moderated school textbooks.

The government under King Abdullah was regarded as moderately progressive. It opened the country's first co-educational university, appointed the first female cabinet member, and prohibited domestic violence. Gender segregation was relaxed but remained the norm. Critics described the reform as far too slow, and often more symbolic than substantive. Conservative clerics successfully rebuffed attempts to outlaw child marriage. Women were not allowed to vote in the country's first municipal elections, although Abdullah supported a woman's right to drive and vote. The few female government officials have had minimal power. Norah Al-Faiz, the first female cabinet member, could not be seen without her veil, appear on television, or talk to male colleagues except by videoconferencing. She opposes girls' school sports as premature.

Dr. Maha Almuneef said, "There are small steps now. There are giant steps coming. But most Saudis have been taught the traditional ways. You can't just change the social order all at once."

Lubna Olayan, the CEO of Olayan Financing Company, is a well-known advocate for women's rights. She was the first woman to address a mixed-gender business audience in Saudi Arabia, speaking at the Jeddah Economic Forum in 2004. She used the occasion to advocate for economic equality:

My vision is of a country with a prosperous and diversified economy in which any Saudi citizen, irrespective of gender, who is serious about finding employment, can find a job in the field for which he or she is best qualified, leading to a thriving middle class and in which all Saudi citizens, residents or visitors to the country feel safe and can live in an atmosphere where mutual respect and tolerance exist among all, regardless of their social class, religion or gender.

Both Forbes and Time magazines have named Lubna Olayan one of the world's most influential women. The Grand Mufti, Abdul-Azeez ibn Abdullaah Aal ash-Sheikh, on the other hand, condemned the event, saying that "Allowing women to mix with men is the root of every evil and catastrophe... It is highly punishable. Mixing of men and women is a reason for greater decadence and adultery."

Among the issues that have been raised, and that are of the utmost importance, are: representation for women in Sharia courts; setting a [minimum] age for girls' marriages; allowing women to take care of their own affairs in government agencies and allowing them to enter government buildings; protecting women from domestic violence, such as physical or verbal violence, or keeping her from studies, work, or marriage, or forcing her to divorce ... We need laws to protect women from these aggressions and violations of their rights as human beings. And there is also [the need to] prevent girls' circumcision ... We truly have a great need for a Ministry of Women's Affairs to deal with women's rights, issues of motherhood and infancy, and women's health in rural areas ... This is our ultimate goal ...

In 2008, the government warned The Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia not to hold any protests.

Saudis frequently debate how to bring about change. Those who oppose activists like Wajeha al-Huwaider fear that an all-or-nothing approach to women's rights will spur a backlash against any change. Journalist Sabria Jawhar dismisses Huwaider as a show-off: "The problem with some Saudi activists is that they want to make wholesale changes that are contrary to Islam, which requires a mahram for traveling women. If one wonders why great numbers of Saudi women don't join al-Huwaider, it's because they are asked to defy Islam. Al-Huwaider's all-or-nothing position undercuts her credibility."

Retaliation against women's rights activism has some precedent. Immediately following Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Saudi women launched a campaign for their rights. Forty-seven women drove illegally through Riyadh in protest against the ban on driving. Activists presented a petition to King Fahd requesting "basic legal and social rights." Subsequently, a feminist leader was arrested and tortured. Fundamentalists demanded strict punishment of the women who had driven in protest and denounced activists as "whores." The mutaween enforced the dress code more aggressively.

Arguments in favor of faster change and more activism include those of Somayya Jabarti, editor of Arab News. Jabarti says there are too many women with decision-making power who are like "queen bees," doing nothing to question the status quo. "People say things are changing for women because they are comparing it to before, when things were below zero. People say 'change,' but it is all relative and it is very, very limited...Change is not coming, we are taking it ... I don't think the way is paved. I think we are building it through the route taken ... Most of the time, we are walking in place."

From 2009 to 2010, many Saudi women opposed mixed workplaces and women driving, and a majority of women did not think women should hold political office. Many embraced the veil and the male-guardianship system. Many Saudis viewed their country as "the closest thing to an ideal and pure Islamic nation" and, therefore, most in need of resistance to Western values. Conservative cleric Mohsen al-Awaji says the country must resist secularization: "Saudi society is a special, tribal society, and neither King Abdullah or anyone else can impose his own interpretation of Islam. They can do nothing without Islam. There is no Saudi Arabia without Islam."

Princess Loulwa Al-Faisal describes herself as a conservative, advocating for change that is gradual and consistent with Islam. As a member of the royal family, she argues that Islam sees women's rights as equal but different, which "together, add up to a secure society that works." Princess Al-Faisal argues "The ultra-conservatives and the ultra-liberals both want the same thing, the destruction of the Islamic way. We are preserving it ... There are problems mostly with the way the law is interpreted, mostly in the courts, but those are changing." According to Princess Al-Faisal, Saudi women are better off than Western women in some ways: "their property is inviolable and that men have a duty to look after them." She also says the "lack of modesty" in the West is "bad for the children." Nonetheless, she supports women's suffrage in municipal elections. When Thomas Friedman asked her what she would do if she were "queen for a day," she replied, "First thing, I'd let women drive."

In 2013, the Saudi government officially sanctioned sports for girls in private schools for the first time. In 2016, four Saudi women were allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and Princess Reema was appointed to lead the new department for women of the sports authority.

In the 2015 Global Gender Gap Report, Saudi Arabia progressed by four places due to an increase in the percentage of women in parliament (from 0% to 20%), based on the introduction of a new quota for women in parliament, and it had the biggest overall score improvement relative to any country in the Middle East in 2006.

That same year, Saudi women were allowed to ride bicycles for the first time, although only around parks and other "recreational areas." Female cyclists must also be dressed in full Islamic body coverings and be accompanied by a male relative. Saudi Arabia also registered its first female trainee lawyer, Arwa al-Hujaili, who is also the first Saudi woman to attain an aircraft dispatcher license.

In 2017, a decision was made that allowed women to process their government transactions without the need to obtain prior consent from their partners.

On September 26, 2017, women were legally allowed to drive, but the law wasn't implemented until June 23, 2018.

In May 2018, activist Loujain Al-Hathloul was arrested by the Saudi authorities for driving and advocating for women's rights. She has been kept in solitary confinement, denied access to medical care, legal advice or visits from family members. Reportedly, she has also been subjected to various forms of torture, including whipping, beating, electrocution and sexual harassment.[citation needed ]

As of 2020, reforms appear to be working across a number of metrics. A crucial one is the employment rate of women, which increased from 66 per cent in 2016 to 75 per cent in that year. These measures are significant, but their implementation is even more so in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consequences of which the world will live with for years to come.

Last January in 2020, it amended anti-harassment laws to include provisions for publishing the names of the offenders. This week, a court did just that, ruling to name and shame a man convicted of verbally abusing a woman. The man, Yasser Mussalam Al Arwe, will serve eight months in prison. His conviction and sentencing will illustrate to women that their concerns are being heard, while also showing men that the government is serious about clamping down on such behavior

Saudi women use online social networking as a way to share ideas they cannot share publicly. As one woman states:

In Saudi Arabia, we live more of a virtual life than a real life. I know people who are involved in online romances with people they have never met in real life...And many of us use Facebook for other things, like talking about human rights and women's rights. We can protest on Facebook about the jailing of a blogger which is something we couldn't do on the streets.

Western critics often compare the treatment of Saudi women to a system of apartheid, analogous with South Africa's treatment of non-whites during South Africa's apartheid era. As evidence, they cite restrictions on travel, fields of study, choice of profession, access to the courts, and political speech. Mona Eltahawy, a columnist for The New York Times wrote, "Saudi women are denied many of the same rights that 'Blacks' and 'Coloreds' were denied in apartheid South Africa and yet the Kingdom still belongs to the very same international community that kicked Pretoria out of its club."

Some commentators have argued that Saudi gender policies constitute a crime against humanity and warrant intervention from the international community. They criticize the U.S. government for decrying the Taliban's sexist policies while allied to Saudi Arabia. Mary Kaldor views gender apartheid in Saudi Arabia as similar to that enforced by the Taliban in Afghanistan. In contrast, political commentator Daniel Pipes sees Saudi gender apartheid as tempered by other practices, such as allowing women to attend school and work.

Critics also blame Western corporations that cooperate with the enforcement of gender segregation. American chains such as Starbucks and Pizza Hut maintain separate eating areas; the men's areas are typically high-quality, whereas the women's are rundown and sometimes even lack seats. In a 2001 column, Washington Post editor Colbert I. King commented:

As with Saudi Arabia, white-ruled South Africa viewed external criticism as a violation of its sovereignty and interference with its internal affairs. And U.S. corporations in South Africa, as with their Saudi Arabian counterparts, pleaded that they had no choice but to defer to the local 'culture.'

Cultural relativism is the root of activist inaction according to feminists such as Azar Majedi, Pamela Bone, and Maryam Namazie. They argue that political Islam is misogynistic, and the desire of Western liberals to tolerate Islam blinds them to women's rights violations. Majedi and Namazie, both born in Iran, consider cultural relativism racist: "To put it bluntly, according to this concept, because of my birthplace, I should enjoy fewer rights relative to a woman born in Sweden, England, or France." Pamela Bone argues feminist apathy is supported by "the dreary cultural relativism that pervades the thinking of so many of those once described as on the Left. We are no better than they are. We should not impose our values on them. We can criticise only our own. The problem with this mindset is that, with all its faults, Western culture is clearly, objectively, better." Bone argues that cultural relativism comes from a fear that criticizing Islam will be considered racist.

Ann Elizabeth Mayer, an American specialist in Islamic law, sees gender apartheid as enshrined in the Saudi Basic Law:

Article 9. The family is the kernel of Saudi society, and its members shall be brought up on the basis of the Islamic faith, and loyalty and obedience to Allah, His Messenger, and to guardians; respect for and implementation of the law, and love of and pride in the homeland and its glorious history as the Islamic faith stipulates.
Article 10. The state will aspire to strengthen family ties, maintain its Arab and Islamic values and care for all its members, and to provide the right conditions for the growth of their resources and capabilities.

Mayer argues that Articles 9 and 10 deny women "any opportunity to participate in public law or government."

In January 2019, British parliamentarians and lawmakers sought access to eight detained female activists in Saudi Arabia. The request followed a report by the Human Rights Watch, which claimed that the women were subject to abuse, electric shocks, beatings, flogging, and rape threats. Crispin Blunt, UK Conservative Member of Parliament, said:

There are credible concerns that the conditions in which the Saudi women activists are being detained may have fallen significantly short of both international and Saudi Arabia's own standards. We make this request to the Saudi authorities so that we can assess for ourselves the conditions in which the Saudi women activists have been and are being detained today. No person should be subjected to the type of treatment that has allegedly been inflicted upon these women activists while in detention. The implications of activists being detained and tortured for exercising their freedom of speech and conducting peaceful campaigns is concerning for all individuals seeking to exercise their human rights in Saudi Arabia.

On November 29, 2020, seven European human rights ambassadors criticized Saudi Arabia over the continued detention of at least five women's rights activists, including Loujain al-Hathloul. According to a statement by Loujain al-Hathloul's family, the court referred her case to the Specialized Criminal Court for terrorism and national security cases. According to Amnesty International, Samar Badawi was also referred to the same special court, while Nassima al-Sada, Nouf Abdulaziz and Maya'a al-Zahrani were to remain in detention. CNN reached out to the Saudi government for their response; the Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel Jubeir, told them that Loujain's case "was up to the courts" and that she was tried for matters concerning the national security of Saudi Arabia.

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Women's rights in Saudi Arabia - Wikipedia

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Women's rights in Saudi Arabia is a topic of concern and controversy internationally. Saudi women have experienced major legal rights reforms since 2017, after facing Wahhabi religious fundamentalist dominance for decades.

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According to our investigation the Syrian law abounds with many clauses that are discriminatory on a gender basis, be it the law Syrian women are not allowed to have the right to grant citizenship to their children, personal status laws, property laws, the penal code, or others.

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According to our investigation, UAE is one of the most underdeveloped countries in women rights topic, overall worst in marital laws, like not being allowed to divorce, don't let women fight back neither support them in marital fights, and not supported in rapes neither. The government and their general population is not interested in fixing this issue, they even make laws to counter it.

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Women in the United Arab Emirates have achieved some measures of legal protection in recent years. In 2008-2009, 21% of Emirati women were part of the labor force, whereas 45% of Kuwaiti women were part of the latter.

Some laws continue to discriminate against Emirati women. For instance, Emirati women must receive permission from a "male guardian" to remarry. This requirement is derived from Sharia law, and has been considered a federal law since 2005. However, these laws are paper laws in effect with the acculturation of post-modernistic gender roles. A research points out that emancipatory movement within the patriarchal society is made possible by the Emirati woman through a mix of strategic obedience and light acts of flouting the power differential boundaries with their Emirati men.

The role of women in society in the UAE has gradually expanded since the discovery of oil. Before 1960, there were few opportunities for them outside the realm of home and family. In the early 1990s, there were five women's societies promoting various issues of importance to women, including literacy and health.

In 2002, the government created an official business networking system for women in order to overcome the lack of networking between them. There are currently 12,000 members with over $6.81 billion (USD) in investment capital.

As 2006 statistics show, less than 20% of Emirati women were part of the national labor force. The UAE has the second lowest percentage of local women working in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In 2008-2009, only 21% of Emirati women were part of the labor force. The UAE has the highest percentage of total female labor participation in the GCC (including expatriate women). However, Kuwait has the highest percentage of local female labor participation in the GCC because more than 45% of Kuwaiti women are part of the national labor force. At the nine-year-old Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, women constitute 43% of its investors while the city's Businesswomen's association boasts 14,000 members. At the forefront of Emirati women in business is Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan al Qasimi, appointed Minister for Economy and Planning in November 2004 and subsequently promoted to her current post as Minister of Foreign Trade. Sheikha Lubna holds the distinction of being the first woman to hold a ministerial post in the country. Her efforts have led her to be rated within the Forbes Magazine's 100 Most Powerful Women.

Dubai Women Establishment, led by Her Highness Shaikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is the first government entity in the UAE that supports and focuses on women in the workforce. The main objective is to increase the effective participation of Emirati women in the workforce through different means and tools. They look at international reports and rankings and monitor the UAE rankings and growth, and aim to positively impact Global Competitive reports & the Gender Gap report. DWE is involved with research, policy proposals, and activation of women-related regulations in Dubai and the other Emirates, as well as attending networking events and forums, and working on customized development programs, projects and initiatives. The aim is building bridges, sustainable leadership for women, international representation of Emirati women and women in boards. Impact of DWE includes the creation of six on-site children's nurseries at various organizations, which has led to a higher level of female retention and lower turnover rate, also that of Women in Board initiative, where special attention is given to increasing Emirati female representation in boardrooms.

The Arab Women Leadership Forum, took place in November 2014, which was hosted under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai. This two-day forum focused on competitiveness and how women can contribute to the rankings and growth of countries.

Within the public sector, governmental employment for Emirati women has increased from 11.6% in 1995 to 22% in 2005 and 66% as of June 2007. In September 2008, Dr. Hissa Al Otaiba and Sheikha Najla Al Qasimi became the UAE's first female ambassadors, serving Spain and Sweden respectively.

The UAE became the second Arab country with a female marriage registrar after Egypt. By 2006, women have accounted for over 22% of the Federal National Council. The UAE's minister of state post is Reem Al Hashimi, who is the first female minister to be in this position and have that role.

Emirati women must receive permission from male guardian to remarry. This requirement is derived from Sharia, and has been considered a federal law since 2005. In all emirates, it is illegal for Muslim women to marry non-Muslims. In the UAE, a marriage union between a Muslim woman and non-Muslim man is punishable by law, since it is considered a form of " fornication".

The 2007 report on the progress of MDGs in the UAE states, "the proportion of females in higher education has risen remarkably at a rate that has not been achieved in any other country in the world. During the years 1990 to 2004 the number of female university students has grown to double that of male students. This is the result of the promotion and encouragement of women's education by state and family." Upon completion of high school, 95% of Emirati women continue on to higher education and comprise 75% of the student population at the Al Ain national university. Women comprise 70% of college graduates in the UAE. According to Dubai Women's College, 50-60% of its 2,300 students proceed to seek employment upon graduation.

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Women in the United Arab Emirates have achieved some measures of legal protection in recent years. In 2008-2009, 21% of Emirati women were part of the labor force, whereas 45% of Kuwaiti women were part of the latter. Some laws continue to discriminate against Emirati women.