Opinion

We finally changed

September 27, 2017
We finally changed

Samar Al-Mogren

Al-Jazirah

THREE years ago, I was invited to participate in an Autism Day event at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. On my way to the stadium, I received a phone call saying the occasion was canceled simply because women are not allowed to enter the stadium and most of the children arrived with their mothers.

The thing that broke my heart was the disappointment of all those autistic children who were so excited to participate in that special event.

The event was canceled only because women were not allowed to enter stadiums. In fact, this was psychologically harming the country’s women and children. There was no logical reason for preventing women from entering a female-only occasion even if it was taking place at a stadium.

That moment, my memory went back in time to when I was a little child dreaming of attending football matches. It was forbidden for me to enter the stadium because I was a female child. At the time, my male cousins who went to watch the matches took advantage of the situation and came back telling me that they had met my favorite footballers. I was very sad and feeling discriminated against though I was raised in a family that treated men and women as equal.

Under those circumstances, my father decided to take me to a celebration that was taking place at the Malaz stadium. I cannot remember what was the celebration exactly about but I remember it featured some traditional Saudi dancing. Anyway, I was scared to go because I felt that they would not let me in. However, my dad promised me to try his best to allow me to enter with him and if he could not then, we both would head back home.

Can you imagine the frustration of a 7-year-old girl who is denied her dream of entering a stadium? This young child who is being rejected only because she was born a female and she is being prejudiced for something she did not even choose.

Today, when I look at the number of women and children who celebrated the Saudi National Day at Riyadh’s King Fahd Stadium I remember the long way we had to cut to reach this spot. Today, I can say that we are finally starting to change and fighting against the extremist traditions totally differentiating women from men. Today, we witness the political will aiming for a radical change in the Kingdom. Today, I can say that we have finally changed and started an era of enlightenment.


September 27, 2017
922 views
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