Al-Yaum

I visited the branch of a communication company in a mall and was surprised to find that most of the workers there were Saudi women. I learned that the company chose the morning shift for them to work because it suits them better.

When I left the place, I contacted an official by SMS and asked him about the actual number of Saudi women working in this sector. I thought that there would not be more than 100,000 female workers. I was surprised when the answer came that there are more than 515,000 Saudi women working in this sector who are registered in social insurance. That is more than half a million Saudi women who once stayed home and were unemployed.

Half a million Saudi women were deprived of honest jobs and were unable to support their families. Now these women are working in jobs in peace and no one can dare to harm them. This is happening and there are no men walking around carrying big sticks. We live in a country with laws and a respected judicial system. Those who violate the law will be punished.

For more than four decades, Saudi women saw themselves as less important than other women in the GCC. They were surprised to find that they could stand in front of a male cashier to pay for goods, but could not stand behind the cash register.

Now that Saudi women are working in a suitable work environment, who will be brave enough to come forward to apologize to them for saying that they were once forbidden to work? Some people need to come forward and apologize for what they have done and for the number of families who have suffered and in many cases were forced to seek help from charity organizations, while women with university certificates sat unemployed at home.

We thank our government and our Crown Prince who restored hope and brought trust to the other half of society.