Saudi Arabian Woman Aged 75 Gets 40 Lashes For Meeting Nephew
IN Saudi Arabia, Syrian-born widow Khamisa Sawadi is convicted of mingling with men who were not her immediate relatives, one of whom was her late husband’s nephew, Fahd al-Anzi, and a friend of his who were bringing her bread.
Mrs Sawadi tells the court that she views Mr Anzi as her son, because she breast-fed him when he was a baby.
Rules the court:
“Because she said she doesn’t have a husband and because she is not a Saudi, conviction of the defendants of illegal mingling has been confirmed.”
She is sentenced to 40 lashes. The men will also be lashed.
Last week, Arab News reported that a woman was arrested for driving a car in Saudi Arabia.
“The woman tried to escape when she saw a police car and in the process hit another car, which was slightly damaged,” Maj. Abdul Mushin Al-Mayman, a police spokesman, told Arab News.
As CNN reports:
Last year, more than 125 women signed and sent a petition to Saudi Interior Minister Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, asking that the ban on women driving in the kingdom to be overturned.
Brave women. You know what they need to be free? Washing machines, with or without wheels:
The Vatican newspaper says that perhaps the washing machine did more to liberate women in the 20th century than the pill or the right to work.
The submission was made in a lengthy article titled “The Washing Machine and the Liberation of Women – Put in the Detergent, Close the Lid and Relax.”
The article was printed at the weekend in l’Osservatore Romano, the semi-official Vatican newspaper, to mark international Women’s Day on Sunday.
“What in the 20th century did more to liberate Western women?,” asks the article, which was written by a woman.
“The debate is heated. Some say the pill, some say abortion rights and some the right to work outside the home. Some, however, dare to go further: the washing machine,” it says.
Anorak says it’s the lawn mower. Saudi Arabian woman may care to ask for one, with a seat and a motor…
Posted: 10th, March 2009 | In: Photojournalism, Reviews Comments (4) | TrackBack | Permalink
