JEDDAH, 8 June 2006 -- Impersonation is easy for Saudi women since many of them still use family ID cards that do not display their pictures. This has led to instances where the cards have been abused.
Saudi Arabia began issuing ID cards for women in November 2001. Yet some male guardians refuse to have these cards issued to their women.
"It is optional for a woman to have an ID card," a representative in the Civil Affairs of Jeddah told Arab News yesterday. "It is not yet compulsory."
Recently, a woman in her thirties walked in to the emergency room of a public hospital in Jeddah asking for a high dose of Pethidine, a painkiller similar to morphine.
Using a photocopy of a family ID card that didn't belong to her, the woman opened a temporary file in the ER, claiming to be suffering from intense migraines.
The ER doctor, who preferred to remain anonymous, said he recognized the name that the woman provided; it belonged to the sister-in-law of his friend.
Another emergency room doctor recognized the woman and informed her colleagues that she had seen her before.
"She came before using another name and was taking high doses of drugs and complaining of migraines," said the doctor.
The ER doctor called his friend and informed him that a woman was using his in-law's family ID in an attempt to obtain prescription painkillers.
The friend and his father-in-law went to the hospital to confirm the woman's ruse. It turned out that the woman had obtained the family ID information from an administrator at the hospital who had a second job at the father-in-law's legal firm.
After the doctors questioned the administrator about the woman, they found out that he helped her open the file due to a personal interest in the woman, according to the doctors who witnessed the case.
The ER doctor told Arab News that because women do not require a photo ID, they could easily claim different identities using stolen or copied family cards that do not belong to them.
"In emergency cases, we treat female patients before asking them for their IDs," said the ER doctor. "As a result, some people misuse the fact that we are doing our jobs properly, and provide fake information about themselves."
By Lulwa Shalhoub
© Arab News 2006
