Stop second-class treatment of Saudi women

A Saudi Arabian woman taking the wheel in support of the women2drive initiative in Saudi Arabia. Women in Saudi Arabia are treated like second-class citizens. President Obama is meeting with King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia this week. Support Amnesty's efforts urging President Obama to stand up for women! Donate now. Dear Tracy , Imagine having to ask permission to leave your house. Women in Saudi Arabia have to do just that. Under Saudi Arabian law, all women must have a male guardian and need his permission to leave the house, travel, open a bank account, or obtain certain kinds of medical care. In fact, last June, two Saudi women activists were ambushed by security forces and arrested when they tried to rescue a woman whose husband had locked her and her children in their house for five days without food. They were sentenced to 10 months in prison for this "crime." Enough is enough. We must demand that Saudi Arabian authorities respect women's human rights. President Obama is meeting with King Abdullah this week. Donate and support Amnesty's efforts urging him to push hard to secure freedoms for women. Because Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world in which women are not allowed to drive, we are demanding that President Obama select a female Secret Service officer to drive him while he is in Saudi Arabia. It's a symbolic gesture that will carry a great deal of weight. We are also demanding that he seek meetings with Saudi Arabian women who protested the driving ban and talk with the family members of activists who have been imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their political beliefs. Please support our efforts mobilizing activists to get Obama's attention. Saudi Arabia has a repressive government, yet it has been spared the blunt criticisms U.S. officials make of some other governments. It's time for that to change. Thank you for your support. Sincerely, Sunjeev Bery Director, Middle East and North Africa Amnesty International USA