An image of a conference in Saudi Arabia on the topic of “women in society” – with not a single female present - has gone viral.
The picture features row upon row of men in traditional keffiyeh and white thobes. A single Westerner in a flannel shirt is the only person breaking up an otherwise uniform sea of what appear to be Arab men.
Saudi Arabia’s laughably prestigious University of Qassim played host to one of the biggest women’s rights conferences in the Arab world in 2012. Ironically, the institution managed to hold the event without the advice or attendance of a single woman.
Themed around the topic of “Women in Society” the conference, originally intended to be held annually at the University, is supposed to set a benchmark for tolerance and progress in the region. Delegates and speakers from more than fifteen countries showed up.
The conference was reportedly held at the University of Qassim and was apparently attended by representatives of 15 countries.
Much is being made of absurdity and hypocrisy of the image, but when you consider Saudi Arabia is a country where women are not permitted to drive, it seems less so.
As is to be expected from Saudi Arabia, a country firmly under the grip of its own twisted interpretation of Sharia Law, zero women attended the event. At least not in the same building as the men. Perhaps more hypocritically, a woman is yet to lecture to men at a University of Qassim summit.
The picture below was published by an Arab newspaper, Okaz, last year and surfaced again in the French-speaking press earlier today. Only two women were cited in attendance.
Saudi Arabia is still ranked 127th out of 136 countries for gender parity.
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