VOA标准英语2009年-Kuwait to Allow Women to Travel Without Hu

By Edward Yeranian
Cairo
21 October 2009

Kuwait's constitutional court ruled Wednesday that Kuwaiti women have the right to travel without their husband's permission, revoking¹ a 1962 passport law. Women in other Gulf² States, like Saudi Arabia, still need permission from a close male relative to travel.

Kuwait took another step in favor of women's rights when the country's constitutional court ruled that women do not need to obtain their husband's consent before obtaining a passport to travel.

The high court, whose rulings may not be appealed, struck down part of a 1962 law that stipulated³ that women may not be granted a passport without the approval of their husbands.

Kuwait granted women the right to vote in 2005. Tribal⁴ and hardline Islamist members of parliament opposed the move, before being outvoted.

It was not until 2009, however, that women were first elected to parliament. Kuwait's Islamists insist that Islamic law forbids women from holding positions of leadership.

The ruling by Kuwait's constitutional court states that the 1962 passport law, requiring a woman to obtain their husbands' consent, violated the state's constitution, which assures personal freedom and gender⁵ equality.

The high court reached its decision after hearing the case of a Kuwaiti woman whose husband had refused to hand over her passport and those of her children to prevent them from leaving the country.

Hala Mustafa is a senior editor with Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper and editor of the periodical Al-Demoqratiya.

"Women in Kuwait are progressing today, and I think that this step is very positive," she said. "It could be seen in the view of many outside the Arab world as a very little step toward liberation of women or liberalization, in general. But taking into consideration the very conservative type of the [Persian] Gulf area in general - and Kuwait is part of this area - I think this could be considered a very significant step toward [opening up] the system and also as a kind of social revolution."

Mustafa says she thinks that the conservative Wahabite sect⁶ of Islam, which dominates parts of the Persian Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, is responsible for the lack of gender equality in many Gulf countries.

"The debate in Saudi Arabia," she added, "is still over allowing women the right to drive their own cars. This signifies that the debate there still hasn't progressed beyond square one."

1 revoking   

v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There are no provisions for revoking the prize. 没有撤销获奖的规定。 来自互联网
• The decision revoking the patent right shall be registered and announced by the Patent Office. 撤销专利权的决定，由专利局登记和公告。 来自互联网

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

4 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

5 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

6 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。