The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Saudi report claims women at wheel will have sex

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Published : Dec. 5, 2011 - 10:22

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This file image made from video released by Change.org, shows a Saudi Arabian woman driving a car in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP) This file image made from video released by Change.org, shows a Saudi Arabian woman driving a car in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP)
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A report given to a high-level advisory group in Saudi Arabia claims that allowing women in the kingdom to drive could encourage premarital sex, a rights activist said Saturday.

The ultraconservative stance suggests increasing pressure on King Abdullah to retain the kingdom's male-only driving rules despite international criticism.

Rights activist Waleed Abu Alkhair said the document by a well-known academic was sent to the all-male Shura Council, which advises the monarchy. The report by Kamal Subhi claims that allowing women to drive will threaten the country's traditions of virgin brides, he said.



Saudi women have staged several protests defying the driving ban. The king has already promised some reforms, including allowing women to vote in municipal elections in 2015.

There was no official criticism or commentary on the scholar's views, and it was unclear whether they were solicited by the Shura Council or submitted independently. But social media sites were flooded with speculation that Saudi's traditional-minded clerics and others will fight hard against social changes suggested by the 87-year-old Abdullah.

Saudi's ruling family, which oversees Islam's holiest sites, draws its legitimacy from the backing of the kingdom's religious establishment, which follows a strict brand of Islam known as Wahhabism. While Abdullah has pushed for some changes on women's rights, he is cautious not to push too hard against the clerics.

In October, Saudi Arabia named a new heir to the throne, Prince Nayef, who is a former interior minister and considered to hold traditionalist views, although he had led crackdowns against suspected Islamic extremists. His selection appeared to embolden the ultraconservative clerics to challenge any sweeping social reforms.

Prince Nayef was picked following the death of Crown Prince Sultan.

 

<한글기사>

사우디女, 운전허용시 혼전성관계맺을것?

"여성에게 운전을 허용하면 혼전 성관계를 조장할 수 있다."

세계에서 유일하게 여성의 운전을 금지하는 사우디아라비아의 국정자문기구 `슈라위원회'에 최근 제출된 보고서에 담긴 내용이다.

저명한 학자 카말 슈부히는 슈라위원회에 제출한 이 보고서에서 여성 운전 허용이 사우디의 혼전 순결 전통을 위협할 수 있음을 지적했다고 인권운동가 왈리드 아부 알카이르가 전했다.

여성에게 운전을 허용하면 남녀가 함께 자리하는 기회가 많아져 성관계를  조장할 수 있다는 주장이다.

극도로 보수적인 내용의 이 보고서는 사우디 압둘라 국왕에게 여성 운전 금지 제도를 유지하라는 압력이 증가하고 있음을 보여준다고 AP 통신이 4일 보도했다.

사우디에서는 올해 들어 여성 운전 금지 제도 철폐를 촉구하는 여성들의 목소리 가 점점 커지고 있다.

압둘라 국왕은 지난 9월 여성에게 2015년 지방선거부터 참정권을 부여하겠다고 발표했으나 여성의 운전은 여전히 허용하지 않고 있다.

이를 두고 여권 신장을 위한 조치에도 압둘라 국왕이 극도로 보수적인 성직자들의 반발을 고려해 조심스러운 행보를 유지하고 있다는 분석이 나오고 있다.

특히 지난 10월 더욱 보수적인 성향의 나이프 내무장관이 새 왕세제로 지명되면서 성직자들이 사회 개혁 차단에 나서는 분위기라고 통신은 덧붙였다.