This Could Be the Start of Something Good

A Saudi woman has brought down the hammer on a religious police officer in an amusement park in Al-Mubarraz. This will hopefully be the beginning of women standing up for themselves, and a general movement toward fighting the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Yes, that is a real police force in Saudi Arabia.

“To see resistance from a woman means a lot,” Wajiha Al-Huwaidar, a Saudi women’s rights activist, said. “People are fed up with these religious police, and now they have to pay the price for the humiliation they put people through for years and years. This is just the beginning and there will be more resistance. The media and the Internet have given people a lot of power and the freedom to express their anger,” she said. “The Hai’a are like a militia, but now whenever they do something it’s all over the Internet. This gives them a horrible reputation and gives people power to react.”

At the amusement park, the officer was looking for unmarried couples. He came across this one 20-something pair, to which the male promptly fainted upon being asked for an ID card. The woman then raged out and punched the cop several times, sending him to the hospital actually.

While an awesome thing took place, she will unfortunately most likely be sent to trial for this. If this happens, she will be in prison for quite some time and be subject to other punishments such as lashings.

In a society where women are not allowed to drive, inherit, divorce, or even fight for custody of their own children, this was a bold move during a time when bold moves are needed.