Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

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Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by Tribble »

Seriously, is there like a contest going on or something over which group can act the most misogynistic?
Saudi Arabia elected to UN women's rights commission
Watchdog director likens move to 'making an arsonist the town fire chief'

Saudi Arabia has been elected to the UN women’s rights commission, prompting outrage from human rights groups.
The kingdom is now one of 45 countries sitting on a panel “promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women," according to the UN.
The ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom has a state policy of gender segregation between men and women who are not related.
"Every Saudi woman must have a male guardian who makes all critical decisions on her behalf, controlling a woman’s life from her birth until death," said Hillel Neuer, director of UN Watch. "Saudi Arabia also bans women from driving cars.

"Electing Saudi Arabia to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief," Mr Neuer said. "It’s absurd."
At least five EU states voted in a secret ballot for the Saudis to serve a four-year term on the commission, according to Mr Neuer. 

The vote was greeted warmly by Helen Clark, former administrator of the UN Development Programme and prime minister of New Zealand. Asked about the election of the Saudis to the commission on Twitter, Ms Clark said: “It's important to support those in the country who are working for change for women. Things are changing, but slowly.”
In March Saudi Arabia launched its first ever girls' council meeting with publicity photos showing 13 men on stage and no women. Organisers said women were involved in the launch event, but that they were obliged to sit in a separate room.

The World Economic Forum’s 2015 Global Gender Gap report ranked Saudi Arabia 134 out of 145 countries for gender equality. It is the only country in the world where women are prohibited from driving and are unable to obtain a driving licence. 
Saudi Arabia, the country to which the UK exports most weapons, already sits on the UN Human Rights Council.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 98536.html

I liked the part where to show how progressive they are, Saudi Arabia had a girl's council meeting wit h13 men on stage and no women.

And apparently at least 5 EU countries voted for them, though we don't know which.
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by SolarpunkFan »

Don't you mean "outdone"? :P

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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by Khaat »

... Really. Are the UN taking a page out of Trump's book on how to deconstruct progress? Or is this the metaphorical "frat boy prank", making the widely-know campus rapist the Coed Campus Safety Officer?
Asked about the election of the Saudis to the commission on Twitter, Ms Clark said: “It's important to support those in the country who are working for change for women. Things are changing, but slowly.”
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by wautd »

I guess petro dollars can buy anything. Even human decency.

Is there a UN council for religious diversity and tolerance they can buy themselves into too?
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by AniThyng »

Given the amount of respect Saudi Arabia has in the Islamic world I daresay trying to frame this as malign on the part of the UN won't go over well with muslims. Like, seriously.

AFAIK the enemies of Saudi Arabia in the Islamic world are their enemies on the basis that they collaborate with the west, not that they are too conservative.
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by Flagg »

Wasn't Libya under Muammar "Stabbed Ass" Gaddafi on the Security Council at one point? Or was it another horrid "state sponsor of Terrorism"?
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by AMX »

Maybe the idea is that making them responsible for women's rights will force them to start caring about women's rights?

(AFAIK that sort of thing can sometimes work on individual people, but never works on coutries...)
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by Flagg »

AMX wrote:Maybe the idea is that making them responsible for women's rights will force them to start caring about women's rights?

(AFAIK that sort of thing can sometimes work on individual people, but never works on coutries...)
That's like putting NAMBLA in charge of playground safety.

And while that statement may sound of pure snark, it's "kidding on the square" (making a "joke" that's punchline is the point you're trying to make).
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by LaCroix »

Well, sitting in on all this meetings means they will get at least expised to wll these *new* ideas. As a chairman, they have to attend, and their vote really only matters on a tie...

It might work out just fine.
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by The Romulan Republic »

LaCroix wrote:Well, sitting in on all this meetings means they will get at least expised to wll these *new* ideas. As a chairman, they have to attend, and their vote really only matters on a tie...

It might work out just fine.
Do you really think they're not aware of these ideas? They're not illiterate cavemen.

They just think ideas like equality are wrong, because their particular interpretation of their holy book tells them so (or because those in power need to pander to people who think that way to stay in power).

And yeah, who wants to bet that the EU countries that voted, if their identities were revealed, would turn out to be the ones that had the most oil trade with the Saudis?
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by LaCroix »

Having heard about them and dismissing them vs being forced to sit through hours and hours discussing them is quite a difference.
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by AniThyng »

LaCroix wrote:Having heard about them and dismissing them vs being forced to sit through hours and hours discussing them is quite a difference.
The world is full of Muslims that have studied and lived in western countries and still come home and reveal their traditionalist/conservative leanings and actively reject liberalism. TRR has a point, they aren't ignorant of liberalism or its ideas, they know very well what it is, and that's why they oppose them - not out of ignorance, but out of recognition that it is a legitimate counter to their social order.
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by Ralin »

LaCroix wrote:Well, sitting in on all this meetings means they will get at least expised to wll these *new* ideas. As a chairman, they have to attend, and their vote really only matters on a tie...

It might work out just fine.
Yeah, the way I understand it is that being head of UN commissions like this is mostly symbolic and all the real work is done by the permanent staff and bureaucracy. And it's assumed that the position will rotate among member nations, to the point where it really doesn't mean anything when something like this or Libya being put in charge of the human rights commission happens.
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by K. A. Pital »

Saudis should be on war crimes trial for Yemen, financial support of IS, Al-Quaeda and other Salafist movements, and the rest of their myriad transgressions.

Not chairing anything.
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by The Romulan Republic »

AniThyng wrote:
LaCroix wrote:Having heard about them and dismissing them vs being forced to sit through hours and hours discussing them is quite a difference.
The world is full of Muslims that have studied and lived in western countries and still come home and reveal their traditionalist/conservative leanings and actively reject liberalism. TRR has a point, they aren't ignorant of liberalism or its ideas, they know very well what it is, and that's why they oppose them - not out of ignorance, but out of recognition that it is a legitimate counter to their social order.
Of course, their are also those who do embrace more progressive ideas. I would not want my statement to be misconstrued as implying that all, or nearly all, Muslims are automatically going to embrace misogynistic extremism, regardless of being exposed to alternative points of view.

But at the same time, there are plenty of people in Saudi Arabia who have traveled to Western countries, lived in Western countries, etc... And that would certainly include many of their wealthiest and most powerful, I'd imagine. So yes: they do are not unaware that their are other options. They actively resist them.

Which makes it that much more difficult to address, of course. Ignorance can be changed with access to new information. Wilful ignorance, or malice, is a different beast entirely.
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by ray245 »

It doesn't help that there is an active dichotomy between western and eastern cultures in their mind. The more they see women's rights as a culture belonging to the west, the more resistant people do become. Liberalism is seen as something exclusive to the west, rather than a universal human value. It also doesn't help when there are many people in the west that do see liberalism as a fundamental part of western culture.

Until the West is able to articulate to the conservatives around the world why they should embrace liberalism as a part of their culture, and not fear the loss of a distinct culture, I highly doubt we will see any major change in the near future. There's an element of passive resistance towards western liberal values.
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Re: Not to be undone by Fox, Saudia Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

Post by AniThyng »

Just bear in mind that moderate Islam on a global scale is still much to the right of what you likely consider to be moderate, especially on topics like sexuality and gender equality. It need not be extremism to still be rather jarring to liberal ideals.

And I can also anecdotally note that a liberal Muslim youth can become a conservative Muslim middle aged person, and there are many people who are astute enough to put on a public face of being liberal and a private face of totally not being. It happens. Granted the reverse is also true and you can see this is Christianity as well.
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