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In Saudi Arabia, ladies are turning to enterprise as a type of ‘quiet activism’ of their feminist motion

A woman in a gym wearing boxing gloves and a hoodie.

Well-known Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was released from prison on February 10, 2021 after 1,001 days in prison. Al-Hathloul, a leading activist for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison in 2018 for promoting a foreign agenda and using the internet to harm public order.

One of al-Hathloul’s crimes was being part of a campaign for women to be allowed to drive. The first of these protests took place in November 1990 when 47 activists got behind the wheel of their family cars. In response, the women were arrested, punished and publicly shamed.

In June 2011 – inspired by the Arab Spring – a number of activists started the Women2Drive campaign, which was again punished with arrest and imprisonment. And despite the ban being lifted in June 2018, some of these women remain in prison for their activism.

Once you realize the fate of so many “explicit” feminist activists in a country like Saudi Arabia, it underscores the importance of other forms of lower risk social movements that they might be involved in. A legitimate platform for women to participate in socio-political changes is the entrepreneurial space.

Fighting for their rights: Hala Hamrani, owner of the first kickboxing gym for women in Saudi Arabia.
EPA-EFE / Amel Pain

Saudi women are well educated and control much of the country’s wealth. The kingdom has been promoting female entrepreneurship in its national development plans for more than a decade. This is part of a plan to encourage economic diversification and private sector investment beyond the oil industry – something that is reflected in the country’s Vision 2030 reform strategy.

It is estimated that Saudi women entrepreneurs have cash holdings of SAR 45 billion (£ 8.6 billion) and currently represent 39% of the total number of registered business owners in the Kingdom – up from 4% a decade ago.

Feminist activism through entrepreneurship

Growing up in Saudi Arabia as a Muslim woman of British Syriac descent, I was fascinated by the diversity of sex systems in the places where I was at home. I am by no means suggesting that gender equality has been achieved in the UK or in any other country in the world. But the position of women in Saudi Arabia is unique in a classic patriarchal society with traditions deeply embedded in the history of their tribal system.

So their plight needs to be understood in their own context to appreciate their day-to-day activism. That is, feminist activism shouldn’t have to take place in an overtly Western way in order to be recognized for its ability to lead to lasting sociopolitical change.

Woman wearing chef white in restaurant kitchen.Chef Noura Almoammar, the granddaughter of a former Saudi king, in her health food store in Jeddah in 2018.
EPA-EFE / Amel Pain

My decade-long study, which began in 2010, examines how some women, while being explicitly in their activism and being prosecuted for it, have engaged in a quieter, (dis) organized, and protracted form of activism.

In particular, I focus on women who have used their entrepreneurial space not only to strengthen and create economic prosperity for themselves, but also as a legitimate platform for political engagement and social change for women through everyday “solidarity practices”. These enable them to quietly penetrate the forbidden political space.

Over the decade, I realized that this activism “quietly” developed over time in a three-step process. First, women entrepreneurs aimed to empower women in their organizations by providing segregated or women-only office space, on-site daycare and safe transportation to and from work, especially before women could drive.

Rania *, a 35-year-old accounting firm owner, told me:

I decided from the day I got this office space that it was going to be a women-only office. That means I can hire women whose guardians don’t like interacting with men at work and give them the opportunity to learn, develop, and be financially independent … to find a purpose in their lives outside of the House.

The second step in this process was to develop a feminist awareness within your company and a larger corporate network. In other words, offer them the opportunity to break away from their traditional and conservative roles and the traditional gender perspective of how a Saudi woman “should” be.

Eventually, as women gained momentum with their “silent” feminist movement, they felt empowered to face the authorities who refused to support their business affairs.

“We will get there”

In 2013, the late King Abdullah issued a royal decree granting women 30 seats in the consultative assembly, the Shura Council, as members. He decreed that women should always hold at least a fifth of their 150 seats. In 2015, women were able to vote and run as candidates in the 2015 local elections.

Woman in clothing store.Fashion designer Eman Joharji has undermined the traditional “abbaya” of women by creating colorful versions and customized outfits for women to play sports.
EPA-EFE / Amel Pain

Ameera *, who runs a management consultancy, is one of the council members. She said to me:

Of course there are some power struggles and discomfort among men – but isn’t that all over the world? Even America wasn’t ready for a woman to become president … We’ll get there.

This kind of “silent” solidarity is an example of how the Western vision of activism in democratic contexts does not represent the feminist movements of women around the world. In the recent #metoo movement, for example, women (and men) marched side by side through the streets calling on their governments to implement political reforms for gender equality. While I admit that this has not made enough change, it has not resulted in any incarceration.

Such explicit activism and “Western” protest is dangerous for women in a country like Saudi Arabia – as the experience of Al-Hathloul and others has shown. However, this has not stopped women from engaging in less obvious forms of activism. Hence, the feminist organization for political change should be examined and understood in its own context if we are to fully appreciate the bravery of women and their global political potential.

Women’s names have been changed for safety and ethical reasons.