huridocs-tech SAU: Saudi Women Find Freedom on Web

Edited/Distributed by HURINet - The Human Rights Information Network
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## author     : alghassa@racsa.co.cr
## date       : 22.09.99
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[This article has been excerpted.]

Saudi Women Find Freedom on Web By MARIAM SAMI

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, 13.8.99 (AP): They may not be able to
drive, travel on their own, attend classes with men or
appear in public without covering up head to toe. But Saudi
women can now surf the World Wide Web.

The Internet has quickly become an opportunity for many
women to satisfy their quest for knowledge, which has often
been restricted by stern traditions.

``It whetted my appetite to keep up with the world,'' said
Salwa Al-Qunaibet, a census bureau computer operator. ``It
gives you more confidence when you can keep up with the
world...in knowledge, in culture. Why should we miss out?''

Al-Qunaibet was probably among the first few women to use
the Internet here. She surfed for a year before the
government decided in January to allow local Internet
service providers to operate.

Before that, an estimated 40,000 Saudi subscribers dialed
long distance to providers in the United States, Bahrain or
Cyprus. Now there are an estimated 65,000 subscribers, and
the number is expected to nearly double by the end of this
year, according to published reports.

AwalNet is the only one among 26 Saudi providers with a
special branch for women surfers - a novel addition to the
``ladies only'' banks, schools and shops that abound here.

Women entering the AwalNet for Ladies pistachio-painted
office can shed their long, silken abayas, comfortable in
the knowledge...no man will gawk as they do in the malls or
the streets. The office is snuggled among shops selling
perfumes, shoes and clothes in a swanky shopping mall.

Some 300 women have signed up after being taken on a virtual
tour of the computer by an all-female staff, said Maiadah
Al-Fauuaz, who headed the company's marketing section before
returning recently to lecturing at Riyadh's King Saud
University.

There are no figures available on how many women subscribe
are with the other providers.

For Manal Al-Shiddi, a dental student at the King Saud
University, the Internet was a gateway to the latest medical
research.

Al-Shiddi subscribes through AwalNet for Ladies, where she
can deal with female computer experts, noting many women
aren't used to mixing with men, and talking to a male
trouble-shooter about a glitch can pose a problem.

Saudi women do go out on family outings and with female
friends, but they still spend long hours at home. Al-Fauuaz
spoke of women, married and single, who have become such
addicts they buy extra hours long before their three-month
or six-month contracts are up.

As more women enter the Saudi work force, more will use the
Internet. Al-Fauuaz said a subscriber got her first job
reviewing books she had read on the Internet. Others plan
home pages to advertise goods in their boutiques.

AwalNet...maintains a home page with a link to a women's
site with postings on fashion, child care and fatwas, or
religious rulings.

There is still much...neither male nor female Saudi surfers
can see.

The group Human Rights Watch has charged...the government
has established a ``fire wall'' against sexually explicit
sites and political ones that call for the downfall of Saudi
royalty opponents describe as despots who abuse the
country's wealth.

The government has said its mission is to uphold social
values by preventing exposure to sites deemed to undermine
Islam or that are sexually explicit.

The situation is similar throughout the region. Human Rights
Watch says Bahrain reportedly employed foreign computer
experts to screen Internet users who attempt to open blocked
political sites. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates
said they did not track users but acknowledged hiring a U.S.
company to shut off X-rated sites, the Human Rights Watch
report said.

In Saudi Arabia, it's not just the government that looks on
the Internet with suspicion. Basma Al-Rashed, an AwalNet
staffer, said administrators of girls' schools object to
allowing the Internet into their institutions for fear of
what their charges might read or write on chat rooms.

``A lot of the girls aged between 15 to 25 years old come
because of the chat rooms,'' said Sarah Murad, a U.S.-born
AwalNet staffer. ``I tell them to remain anonymous.''

=

AwalNet's home page is: www.awalnet.net.sa. Its link, Laki
Anti, Arabic for ``for you, lady,'' is the women's site.



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