In the 80’s when I first arrived in Saudi Arabia; women sits
in the back of the bus via a door at the rear. Surprisingly; by the 90’s
onward: segregation was abolished due probably to the influx of women foreign
workers that find such practice a little inconvenient but I don’t remember any
issue of complains among expatriates. Sometimes in the late 90s to my chagrin or
early 2000; segregation in public transport back in the Philippine was
instituted where the first 2 boxcars of the light rail transit are reserved for
women and the elderly the reason being that some women complained of
molestation in the crowded train.
I read some days ago that some Jewish groups in Israel are
demanding for the segregation of sexes in public places but I never thought it
was serious till I read this article/story :-)
I won’t sit at the back
of the bus
Ynet special: Tanya
Rosenblit recounts clash of civilizations she experienced on Israeli bus;
‘until yesterday, I was sure that I live in a free country,’ she says
Tanya Rosenblit
SNIP:
Until yesterday, I was sure
that I live in a free country. I was certain that a person’s dignity and
freedom are supreme values in our diverse society. Indeed, there are calls
against one group or another, but people, whoever they are, regardless of
religion, creed or gender, will be respected, because this is the kind of
society I grew up in. These are the values I learned.
The
driver, who saw he cannot continue, called the police. When the police officer
arrived, he traded a few words with the driver, spoke at length with the
organizer of the spontaneous protest, and then boarded the bus in order to ask
me whether I am willing to respect them and move to the back of the bus. He
repeated the question twice. He was also the first to turn to me and speak to
me all that time.
I replied that I showed enough respect for them with my modest
dress and that I cannot humiliate myself in order to respect someone else. They
must ask themselves how it could be that humiliating a woman shows respect to
them. How could it be that a man in this day and age feels that a woman is not
worthy of sitting before him? How would he feel if his mother, sister or
daughter encountered such contempt?
PLEASE READ FULL INTERESTING STORY:
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