Women in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to obtain a passport and travel abroad without the prior consent of a "guardian" male, announced Thursday the government.
"A giant step for Saudi women"
This measure undermines the Saudi system of "male guardian", which assimilates women to minors throughout their lives by subjecting them to the arbitrary authority of their husband, father or other male relatives. Described by human rights defenders, these restrictions have been thwarted in recent months by several young Saudi women who, falsely company with their "guardians", fled abroad strangely. "A passport will be issued to any Saudi national who will make the request," proclaims a government decree published in the official journal Umm Al Qura.
According to the Okaz government's daily newspaper and other media quoting official sources, this new rule means that any Saudi woman aged 21 or over will be able to obtain a passport and leave the country without the permission of her "guardian". Another pro-government newspaper, Saudi Gazette , hailed this measure as "a giant leap for Saudi women". "The dreams of some women have been broken because of their inability to leave the country to (...) study abroad, to respond to a job offer or even to flee if they wanted," commented on Twitter the Saudi businesswoman Muna AbuSulayman. "This change means that women are on the path to take full control of their legal destiny," she said.
A system still far from being abolished
Another change announced Thursday: Saudi women will now officially declare a birth, marriage or divorce, and have parental authority over their minor children, prerogatives hitherto reserved for men. The decision to allow Saudi women to travel freely is part of the series of liberalization measures decided by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS, who is de facto leading the ultra-conservative kingdom.
The most emblematic of these reforms has been that allowing women to drive a car since June 2018. Women have also recently been allowed to attend football matches, and to access jobs formerly strictly reserved for men. While they have transformed the lives of many Saudi women, these reforms are not enough in the eyes of critics, who point out that the system of "male guardian" is still far from being abolished.