18th November, 2004

LLOYD HARKNESS

While not new on the bookshelves, Jean P. Sasson's Princess and Daughters of Arabia (1992 and 1994) - as told by Sultana (an alias), a princess of Saudi Arabia - still deserve a widening audience. Having just read both books in the last fortnight I have been left with a far keener, more troubled insight into the 'norm' for this region of the world. Sultana is a headstrong, difficult woman; a force within her family charged with the anger of injustice she has had to contend with in the great cultural divide between male and female in Saudi Arabia. She doesn't so much expose what goes on behind the women's hijab as lift the men's kaffiyeh. Oppression, sex slavery, girls as young as 13 forced to marry older men (and often they are the ones who end up as the third or fourth wife) are some of the crimes, committed in the name of Islam, against human dignity. Add to this sex junkets to Asia and you complete a very bleak overview of the men, family members and beyond, who Sultana knows. This abuse of power not only oppresses women, it also debases men. And wealth seems to only exacerbate the problem. Dust these books off your local libraries shelves and add your voice to Sultana's.

Picture: Lauri Dammert (iStockphoto.com).

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