Scholraships for all, men and women

Women used to face criticism from a patriarchal society that thinks that it’s not a woman’s place to be out of home by herself without a man to protect her from obstacles  that hardly ever find their way to existence.

Last Thursday, a debate was held at Al-Madina Center about women going in scholarships abroad whether to agree or disagree with this prospective that encourages women especially young ones to travel and study abroad alone. The debaters were at different social and educational backgrounds. The debate was coordinated by Abd Al- Kader  Al – Gerbani ,the academic manager of Al-madina Center.

The debaters came to the center prepared with arguments and support. Mr. Al- Gerbani presented the argument that focused mainly on the women’s right to travel abroad alone for educational purposes.

Surprisingly, female debaters were mostly against this idea and they refuted the other few debaters’ prospective. Abeer Al- Ghiathi, EFL Teacher, explained women’s psychology which was a significant factor that proved her needs”. Women can’t travel alone without )Mahram(– a person who is Muslim and not allowed to marry her like bother, father or uncle- because they are weak creatures in their nature and they can’t manage their life alone.”

To clarify that, Dr.Murad Al-Azani, a professor in Sana’a University, faculty of Education, justified the weakness of some women by relating it to the way that they have been brought up. “Some women can’t be well-adapted to foreign societies because they have been brought up to be good citizens in their own society whose people have the same religious and social principles.” Women are most likely expected to face obstacles based on men’s judgments of her whenever she just takes transportation buses alone without any male relative with her. Nouman Ba-Bakri, computer programmer, insisted that women should have their houses as their permanent place without even thinking  of going out to shop.” I think women are not allowed to go out from their homes, how could they think to travel and live alone in a different place.”

What made the argument stronger was relating women right to travel and study abroad to the identity independence that makes every woman free and as the same time responsible for her mistakes. Walid Hussien, a student at AUC strengthened his point of view that assures women’s right to be independent saying, “Women should be independent, and the community should not embrace the male-dominant image in our society.» Then he asked questions that open the doors to argue about equality between women and men. “Why is it always up to men? They are the ones making decisions for the women!» That what was refuted by other female debaters who disagreed with the conception that gives the women the right to decide everything. Fatima Al-Hattami, English teacher, explained the incapacity of woman to decide and do anything she wants, but depending all the time on her male relatives who can decide better. «We all need men who are better and stronger than us because this is the nature of women. They don’t accept to their men to be less than them.” And she expressed her own feeling, saying, “Whenever I walk alone in the street I feel confused and uncomfortable which is different from going out with my brother, I feel more comfortable and protected that makes me secure and safe.”

The series of feminine oppositions continue, Bushra Abd Al- Rahman, a student in the Future University, tried to express her opinion that’s against women going to study abroad alone using the religion as red line. «I can openly be with this right, but our religion’s rules are nonnegotiable and they should be respected.” That leads us to what it’s called (re-activating the government)which means that the government is the responsible for applying the religion rules to support women’s rights to study under the conditions of the religious and the social rules. Dr. Murad Al- Azani concluded the debate in the last five minutes, saying, “ what we need is re-activating the government to guarantee the rights and to have a system that organizes every social and educational pattern, like for example supporting the women’s companion financially that enables both of the woman to study abroad and her )Mahram(to company her till she finishes her study and comes back.” 

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