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Dateline: Nov 20

SBS gets rare access into controversial social reforms by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Tomorrow on SBS Dateline gets rare access into controversial social reforms by Saudi Arabia’s conservative Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and asks if they are genuine.

Long viewed as one of the most repressed societies in the world for women, the Crown Prince is attempting to modernise the Islamic nation with a suite of progressive reforms – known as Vision 2030. But at the same time, the risks of speaking your mind have never appeared greater.

This week, Dateline reporter Calliste Weitenberg goes inside the Kingdom as news of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder reverberates around the world. Accompanied by government minders, she faces roadblocks as she tries to cover all sides of the story, and experiences a regime that strictly controls the media and the message around the reforms.

“I think it really just shows you how nervous the government is right now about [us] filming anything slightly controversial – that doesn’t fit their party line,” says Weitenberg.

Through the eyes of a female Youtube comedian, a sportswoman and her own journey as a foreign journalist, Weitenberg explores the boundaries of this new world and the ways women are navigating the changes in their everyday lives.

“I want to just send that message to the media, that Saudi Arabia changed and we are not like they thought. We have our own freedom but in our own corners,” says 22-year old sportswoman Hind, a member of Riyadh’s first female running club.

For decades, religious conservatives condemned women’s sports and exercising in public was a huge cultural taboo. Now Hind is part of a new generation of Saudi women embracing the reforms.

But women’s rights activists who fought for these very reforms are being locked up.

In Sydney, Australia, Calliste hears from one Saudi women’s rights activist brave enough to speak out and question the reforms.

“There’s no debate in Saudi. Anyone who says anything that is remotely against the government is being silenced,” says activist and artist Saffaa.

Flagged by Saudi authorities after an artwork criticising the country’s controversial guardianship laws went viral, Saffaa reveals she too was interrogated by officials at the Saudi embassy in Canberra.

“I have never done a TV interview and I have always refused to do TV interviews but I just feel like all of these voices have been silenced and if I don’t speak out, then who will speak out.”

She says the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the clampdown on women’s rights activists raises serious questions around the effectiveness of the Crown Prince’s reforms.

With freedom of speech so precarious, Dateline asks, how genuine are the reforms taking place and will it lead to any meaningful change in this proudly conservative nation?

9:30pm Tuesday on SBS.

One Response

  1. Great story so far tonight, thank you. Just wondering what song was playing as the ladies were running in the group outside when the men were cheering for them please? Thank you ?

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