Saudi Arabian Uprising (2011)

The Saudi Arabian Uprising were a series of protests in Saudi Arabia over women's rights, economic inequality, police brutality, corruption, religious discrimination and high unemployment in 2011 and 2012. It was part of the Arab Spring and a wider global wave of revolts from 2010 to 2014.

Events

An unidentified 65-year old man set himself on fire in the town of Samtah on the 21st of January. 8 days later, hundreds of protesters gathered in the city of Jeddah in a rare display of criticism against the city's poor infrastructure after deadly floods swept through the city, killing eleven people. Police stopped the demonstration about 15 minutes after it started. About 30 to 50 people were arrested and a social media campaign began calling for a fairer distribution of wealth, jobs and an end to corruption. Small marches and online activism continued until the 9th of March where in Qatif about 600 to 800 protesters were present at a similar protest on the evening of the 10th of March, calling for nine prisoners to be released. About 200 police were present. The police used "percussion bombs" and shot at protesters with gunfire for about 10 minutes. Three protesters were injured and hospitalised with "moderate" injuries.

This triggered a "Day of Rage" in solidarity with the uprisings in Libya and Bahrain where protesters demanded women's rights, prison reform, democratisation, removal of soldiers from Bahrain, workers rights and civil liberties. Over the next few months a cycle of protests with a few hundred people, online activism and police repression continued (including the killing of children and use of snipers). Women began illegally driving cars and were frequently arrested. University strikes began and sit-ins occurred in government buildings. Migrant workers went on hunger strike and massive open criticism of the government occurred in a weekly cycle that died down in 2013.

Results

The uprising was followed by limited democratisation in the form of municipal elections and women's suffrage for municipal elections. Soon massive improvements in women's rights were made, notably:

• Allowing women to serve in government
• Allowing women to marry foreigners
• Allowing women to receive education, healthcare and open a business without their husband's permission
• Allowing women to play sports and exercise in public
• Allowing women to become lawyers
• Allowing women to drive
• Allowing women to enlist in the military

Whilst Saudi Arabia is still an extremely patriarchal and authoritarian country, these limited reforms are huge wins.

References

Wikipedia - 2011-12 Saudi Arabian protests