Unshackling themselves

A RECENT move to introduce physical education to government girls’ schools met the same response as most attempts to give Saudi women equal rights with men. A group of conservatives protested in Riyadh, the capital, against “Westernising” moves that would lead to adultery and prostitution. Such mores, they argued, have no place in the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad.

But sport looks set to become a fact of life for women in the kingdom. In 2012 two Saudi women took part in the Olympics for the first time, weathering a torrent of abuse. Since last year the authorities have been giving licences to private sports clubs for women, a far cry from 2006 when Lina al-Maeena had to register her ladies’ basketball team in Jeddah as a company. Even in stuffier Riyadh, girls can be seen kicking footballs with their brothers, the hems of their black abayas trailing in the dust.