Boomhauer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24908109

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I was thinking Saudi should be first but then realised that apart from some factors like freedom of movement, Saudi women have ready access to: education, good nutrition, clean living conditions, not oveworked, don't face threat of human trafficking, don't face stress of poverty and the all the resultant violence and all manner of negatives that comes with it .

I know Shia Saudis face institutional discrimination but don't know how their condition compares to the average Sunni Egyptian

Bahtatboy

That argument plays right into the hands of those who wish to perpertuate the status quo. "some factors like freedom of movement" in fact equates to virtually total control of their lives by others. I fully acknowledge that, in some respects, it allows physical safety, but I would guess that domestic violence and abuse is, at best, on a par with the west, and with limited opportunies for redress or escape.

Beakersful

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23872152

That kind of changed two months ago though. Although a judicial system changing doesn't necessarily mean a cultural change, yet.....

Boomhauer

Well I am not arguing that Saudi women are at the mercy of their menfolk ; I was just saying that I understand why Saudi isn't at the top because while they (Saudi women) have limited movement, they don't face the brutal conditions women in other parts of the MidEast face, like for example Syrian women being forced to sell themselves to rich Saudis because of the war.

Saudi and other Arab men prey on Syrian female refugees
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...marriages.html

Beakersful

I met a guy running a marriage bureau and he showed me how he'd paired up a Saudi guy and a Syrian woman. She was an adult and they looked happy. The divorce rate is high here, similar to the West. If these girls/women come over and are being abused then they'll have access to legal proceedings. The fate of young Christian Syrian women may be of more concern than muslim.

Bahtatboy

Given that that is the first time the judiciary have actually made domestic violence and abuse a criminal act, and that there are serious doubts about the implementation of the "ban", I'd say that they're women's rights there are pretty abysmal.