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Middle East making progress in gender equality?

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    Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Brunei make Olympic history by sending women to London Games

  • Duration 3:33
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Well the world will see an Olympics milestone this summer the Middle Eastern nations of Saudi Arabia -- are and Brunei set to send women athletes to compete in the games something they have never done before.

That means for the first time in Olympic history all the countries competing we'll have female representatives.

The head of the Olympic Committee calls it quote.

Very positive news but analysts say it's only a small step toward gender equality in those countries and might not result.

In any major changes for women and all there.

Let's get to journalist and filmmaker Robert Young Pelton Robert has traveled extensively in the Middle East he's hung out with the Taliban and Afghanistan.

And used to be a neighbor of Osama bin Laden he's also the author of the book the world's most dangerous places and the new graphic novel.

Black water chronicles Roberts great to see if I guess the idea here is -- you send a few women to the Olympics then suddenly.

You're telling the world that you treat women equally right.

Well -- I mean it's it's it's and it's better than not sending -- into the Olympics but internally if you go inside countries like Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or Afghanistan.

Other places you find that the actual culture hasn't changed that much that women still are not equal to men.

In legal terms unless legal things change where women can drive cars in Saudi Arabia or have equal -- -- -- gonna change.

And what about athletics I mean it's my understanding that a lot of these countries.

These girls are allowed to play athletics -- they're going to represent their country in the Olympics but at home you can't have girls even playing soccer.

Correct Camilla these countries have but the -- heard -- girls.

Before puberty can sort of walk around but once they enter puberty -- basically have to cover themselves and stay inside the home and it's obviously very difficult to engage in active sports when -- clothed from head to -- 120 degree heat.

Is this is just sort of a little.

Token thing for the western world but actually I think it brings more attention to what should be done to bring equality to women inside these regions.

What do you make of of the fact that -- these women show up and when they show the Olympics you know you're gonna have these profiles they start digging deeper into these cultures.

Is this something that these countries wants Saudi Arabia and Qatar and -- they want.

-- they want the outside world digging deeper into how they treat their women.

-- -- But if you remember that Saudi Arabia is it is a feudal system essentially a dictatorship.

That goes back to sixteenth century concept obviously there's many modern things going on there's a lot of bright modern people there but.

That the basic structure of the country goes back to the sixteenth century and I encourage anyone to research that the plight of women and minorities of any of these countries and you'll be quite shocked.

I was interested -- you call this take a kind of a clumsy PR move Robert what exactly did you mean by that.

Well you know we as a nation are encouraging equal rights for women and minorities and we we lean on these countries that we do a lot of business with to show some kind of progress.

And these are typically token things -- -- you know we -- obsessed with educating women and in Afghanistan we weren't that worried about educating boys I mean -- we actually wouldn't even give foreign aid projects unless they had two women from a city let's say.

So these -- -- our pressure points to get them to at least acknowledge.

-- they have to move in that direction but the realities of a woman moved from America the Saudi Arabia your life would be dramatically different.

Now it's fascinating to -- Robert Young Pelton the deceased sir thank you always a pleasure --

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