Senate Passes Resolution Encouraging Saudi Women

On July 29, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a resolution encouraging women’s political participation in Saudi Arabia (S. Res. 216). The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the resolution on July 26.

Sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the resolution contains a number of findings, including:

• On September 22, 2011, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is scheduled to hold its first nationwide municipal elections since 2005;
• The government of Saudi Arabia has announced – as it did in 2005 – that women will be unable to run for elective office or vote;
• The decision by the government of Saudi Arabia to continue to disenfranchise women in the September 2011 municipal elections is inconsistent with a series of commitments made by the government of Saudi Arabia;
• On June 10, 2009, the government of Saudi Arabia accepted the majority of the recommendations put forward by the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, including [the recommendations] to ‘[a]bolish all legislation, measures and practices that discriminate against women…In particular, to abolish legislation and practices which prevent women from participating fully in society on an equal basis with men,’ and to ‘end the strict system of male guardianship and give full legal identity to Saudi women’;
• The government of Saudi Arabia has indicated that it is supportive of the human rights of women; and
• In November 2010, Saudi Arabia was elected to the Executive Board of UN Women, emphasizing the commitment of the government of Saudi Arabia to the rights of women.

The resolution urges “Saudi Arabia to allow women to participate, both as voters and candidates for elective office, in the September 2011 elections; supports the women of Saudi Arabia as they endeavor to exercise their human rights; and believes that it is in the interest of Saudi Arabia and all nations to permit women to run for office and vote in all elections.”