I EAGERLY read newspapers after the end of the recent municipal elections and the landmark win made by women. Unfortunately, I noticed that the press coverage of this event almost disappeared while foreign newspapers continued to shed light on the issue. Whether such foreign dailies have an agenda is irrelevant. Before we discuss why Western media depicted Saudi women negatively, we should ask why local newspapers do not have an agenda to improve the image of women and focus more on their issues. The real problem is that we do not have a women's organization that focuses on highlighting women's issues. I think this is the reason we have not joined the Arab Women's Organization, which has various Arab and Gulf countries as members. In most civilized countries, there are specialized media and there are training programs that show journalists how to write news in a way that empowers women. We do not have such programs, let alone a code of professional ethics for journalists. Media coverage of the female winners of municipal elections does not mean that the media is biased in favor of women as some people might think. These people misunderstand the issue and ignore the fact that women have been shackled by old social norms and traditions while men remain free. Our media could have seized this opportunity to improve the image of Saudi women and to dispel stereotypes. It could have highlighted the fact that some of the female winners live in rural areas where equality between men and women does not exist and where women are mistreated. This win is an important event for our country. It should remind us of the 2011 initiative led by Dr. Hatoon Al-Fassi, Nassima Al-Sada and Fawziya Al-Hani who called for giving women more opportunities to participate in public affairs and issues. The initiative covered Riyadh, Jeddah, the Eastern Province, Makkah, Madinah, Al-Qassim, Jazan, Najran, Al-Baha, Abha, Tabuk, Qurayyat, Sakaka, Yanbu and Hail. In all these places, there are women who work day and night to empower Saudi women. The initiative recently won the annual Chaillot Prize 2015 for the promotion of human rights. This prize should mean a lot to us as a society and should propel us to work more toward supporting women's issue. Islam views women as human beings with full rights just like men.
