Milestone in Space, Struggle on Earth: First Arab Female Astronaut Travels Space Amid Ongoing Women's Rights Issues

25-05-2023

Bilge Ece Zeyrek

Middle East and Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

The first female Arab astronaut, Rayyanah Barnawi, has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Axiom Space's second special mission. [1] Barnawi traveled to the ISS with SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, along with another Saudi astronaut Ali Alqarni and American astronauts Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner. The crew will conduct a variety of scientific and technological experiments during their time in the orbiting laboratory.

Born in September 1988 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Barnawi has established herself as an accomplished biomedical scientist, holding a Master's degree in Biomedical Sciences from Alfaisal University in Saudi Arabia and a Bachelor's degree from Otago University in New Zealand. [2] She has dedicated over nine years of her career as a skilled research lab technician at Riyadh's prestigious King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, specifically in the Stem Cell and Tissue Re-engineering Program. [3]

In the video recorded while in space, Barnawi said, "To the people around the world, the future is very bright. I would like you to dream big, believe in yourselves, and believe in humanity." [4] While her space launch as the first Arab female scientist is an inspiring milestone for women and girls in the region, it is important to recognize that more progress is needed to ensure rights and empowerment on a much larger scale.

In July 2022, Saudi Arabia obtained a ranking of 127 out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report. [5] Significant issues persist regarding women's rights, most notably the system of male guardianship that wields substantial power over a woman's life by mandating the requirement of her male guardian's consent for decisions concerning marriage, work, travel, and study. [6] Barnawi's space launch is promising considering Saudi women got the right to drive in 2018, but the road to victory for women's rights is a long one to go. In the absence of concrete measures being implemented to address gender inequality comprehensively, this particular advancement would merely stand as an isolated occurrence, lacking the transformative impact needed to drive substantial progress in Saudi Arabia. 

Sources and further reading:

[1] David Gritten, ‘First Arab female astronaut reaches space station’ (BBC, 23 May 2023) <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65671485> accessed 25 May 2023.

[2] Axiom Space, ‘Rayyanah Barnawi’ (n.d.) <https://www.axiomspace.com/astronaut/rayyanah-barnawi> accessed 25 May 2023. 

[3] ibid.

[4] Ghinwa Obeid, ‘Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali al-Qarni send first greetings from space’ (Al Arabiya English, 22 May 2023) <https://english.alarabiya.net/News/saudi-arabia/2023/05/22/Saudi-astronauts-Rayyanah-Barnawi-and-Ali-al-Qarni-their-first-regards-from-space> accessed 25 May 2023.

[5] World Economic Forum, ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2022’ (13 July 2022) <https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2022.pdf> accessed 25 May 2023.

[6] GHRD, ‘Saudi Arabia Report’ (April 2021) <https://ghrd.org/uploads/reports/pdf/ec6d0efb8ef866ed5dd0026758d313a8.pdf> accessed 25 May 2023.