Wajeha al-Huwaider
Encyclopedia
Wajeha al-Huwaider is a female Saudi
activist and writer. She is a co-founder of The Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Huwaider supported the appointment of Norah al-Faiz
and added that the Saudi government needs to further the rights of women. Al-Huwaider wrote "Saudi women are weak, no matter how high their status, even the 'pampered' ones among them, because they have no law to protect them from attack by anyone. The oppression of women and the effacement of their selfhood is a flaw affecting most homes in Saudi Arabia." In 2008, she received international media attention when a video of her driving in Saudi Arabia was posted on YouTube
; it is illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia.
A brief period spent in the United States
influenced her to become a feminist activist:
The editor of the reform-minded Aafaq compared al-Huwaidar to Rosa Parks
.
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
activist and writer. She is a co-founder of The Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Huwaider supported the appointment of Norah al-Faiz
Norah al-Faiz
Norah Abdallah al-Faiz is the first female member of the Saudi Arabia Council of Ministers.King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia appointed al-Faiz as the vice minister for women's education....
and added that the Saudi government needs to further the rights of women. Al-Huwaider wrote "Saudi women are weak, no matter how high their status, even the 'pampered' ones among them, because they have no law to protect them from attack by anyone. The oppression of women and the effacement of their selfhood is a flaw affecting most homes in Saudi Arabia." In 2008, she received international media attention when a video of her driving in Saudi Arabia was posted on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
; it is illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia.
A brief period spent in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
influenced her to become a feminist activist:
Before that, I knew that I'm a human being. However, in the United States I felt it, because I was treated as one. I learned life means nothing without freedom. Then I decided to become a real women's rights activist, in order to free women in my country and to make them feel alive.
The editor of the reform-minded Aafaq compared al-Huwaidar to Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
.