Saudi businesswomen seek to shrug off male guardians
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JEDDAH — Banned from driving and denied the right to travel without permission, Saudi women are taking bold steps in business and trying to do away with the male guardian system that hobbles them.
“What we need today is the right to take decisions by ourselves without having to get the consent of the male guardian,” said Rania al-Sulaimani, 33, who owns a beauty center in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
Like all women in the ultra-conservative kingdom, businesswomen need male permission for virtually everything, so even those who own companies are forced by law to appoint a male director, if just in name.
But two women managed to avoid the required appointment for their business, after knocking on the minister of commerce’s door demanding an exemption, which they surprisingly got.
“We have managed to break the taboo by convincing the minister of commerce and industry not (to insist on) appointing a male director for our private company,” said Dania Nassif, 35, who established with Dania al-Hamrani, 36, a production company for television documentaries..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101031com3.html
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