(Image source: Wikimedia Commons )

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

It’s being called a “No Man’s Land.” Saudi Arabia has announced plans to build a city where only women are allowed. WXMI has more .

“The goal is to give females there greater independence while keeping in line with Sharia law. The women-only city was proposed by a group of Saudi businesswomen and is expected to create 5,000 jobs.”

Sharia law doesn’t specifically prohibit women from working, but does put constraints on women working alongside men who aren’t family members. A writer for Newser explains how the new city will address that problem.

“The cities will be reserved for female entrepreneurs, employers, and employees in such fields as textiles, pharmaceuticals, and food-processing. Currently, women make up just 15% of the Saudi workforce, and most of those female employees work in women-only settings.”

While women’s representation in the workforce is small, they make up 60% of the kingdom’s college graduates. A writer for Jezebel says that’s a huge untapped resource.

“The government probably senses that the tide is turning — there are an awful lot of educated women milling around in Saudi Arabia, women who want to take control of their own lives by applying their education to the workforce.”

But media reactions to the plan have been mixed. A CNN analyst praised the move, saying giving women jobs and more independence will lead to broader changes in the extremely conservative country.

“If you get women in the workplace — as crazy as it sounds in sort of a completely separate environment — it does empower them, it does give them a stronger voice.”

But a writer for the Guardian says she can’t see how further gender separation will help, and describes the city as a lose-lose situation.

“If the cities fail, it will, no doubt, be seen as a sign women are not fit to run businesses. But if they turn out to be a success, more will be built, and women will be more segregated than ever – disappearing even further from the public sphere.”

The city is the first of many planned throughout the country, and is expected to open for business next year.