Visiting US lawmakers find that Saudi Ministry of Defense has no bathrooms for women

Venmont Rep reported that he was astonished to find that the Suadi Ministry of Defense has no women's restrooms.

CAIRO: Vermont Democrat Rep. Peter Welch says he got an “astonishing” look at gender segregation in Saudi Arabia during a visit to the kingdom last week, when he and his colleagues discovered that there is no women’s restroom at the Saudi Defense Ministry.

Eight Republican House members, including four women, accompanied Welch on the trip. Though the male US representatives present offered to stand outside of the men’s restroom to guard it while the female lawmakers used it, Saudi officials disapproved.

“’Why would you need it?’ That was sort of their attitude,” Welch told the press on Tuesday. “No Saudi women work there but you would think that they were accustomed to having delegations from Western countries that included women.”

According to Welch, the women “had to wait and endure it.”

“It was a pretty astonishing experience for me and for them too, I think,” Welch said. “These are strong independent women and they’re used to being treated equally and treating others equally and you’re in a society where there’s strict segregation and it’s pretty stunning.”

Welch, a member of the House Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations, had never before been to Saudi Arabia.

The trip was made in order to meet with government officials in the Middle East in order to assess the threat of a nuclear Iran.

According to Welch, many officials support sanctions against Iran amid concerns over the country’s nuclear ambitions.

“There was a universal view that the Middle East would be a safer place if Iran did not have a nuclear weapon,” said Welch.

BM

Tags: Iran, Peter Welch, Saudi Ministry of Defense

Section: Latest News, Saudi Arabia, Women