Human Rights v. Cultural Relativism

A Saudi woman is kidnapped at knife-point and gang raped by seven men. A court ruling sentences her to 200 lashes and jail time because she was with a man that was not a relative. The debate from both the West and Middle East is whether the strict, patriarchal Islamic Law is an issue of the abuse of basic human rights or cultural relativism.

The international community was wholly outraged when the news of the Saudi rape case broke, sighting archaic laws and abuse of Islam. Indeed, Saudi Arabia is governed by the most strict part of the Quran, the shari'ah. Shari'ah law effects women both socially and politically. At birth, a Saudi woman is assigned a male guardian; this man (most likely her father) governs this woman's life. When she marries, her husband is her new guardian. Similarly, Saudi women are not allowed in public with men who aren't their relatives. Politically, women have essentially no chance. Shari'ah counts a woman's testimony has half a man's testimony.

The rape case exemplifies the bitter injustices Saudi women endure: lack of representation in the public and private sectors; an excessively patriarchal and conservative government; and no personal freedoms. It is poor logic to argue that because Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country based on Islamic principles, it should be devoid of basic human rights for women. There are numerous Middle Eastern countries that do not govern solely on the Quran and shari'ah law and women have similar freedoms as men. It irresponsible and inhumane for the Saudi government to hid behind Islam as an excuse for their desecration of women.

Outrage should have resonated from every single liberal country, especially the pro-democratic United States. But guess who the US gets oil from? Saudi Arabia. So guess what George Bush said regarding the rape case. Nothing.


UPDATE: The Saudi woman was pardoned today by King Abdullah. A Justice Minister told the Saudi Arabian newspaper al-Jazirah: ''The king always looks into alleviating the suffering of the citizens when he becomes sure that these verdicts will leave psychological effects on the convicted people, though he is convinced and sure that the verdicts were fair." Whatever.