Are no longer minor ... mutual accusations between the Saudi women after the overthrow of the state

Zahra Magdy

Did not resemble yesterday night, the transformation of Saudi society has become more than the expectations of some, especially after the lifting of the laws of the mandate of Saudi men on women; which enables the 21-year-old woman to apply freely to obtain a passport and booking flight and travel without permission, For the incubator and the deceased minors, and for males and females.

This was not the only right that women had been empowered to do, but were able to register births and deaths. Their place of residence was no longer the residence of their husbands; they were able to apply for a family register from the Civil Status Department.

Eleven years ago, the case of Samar Badawi raised eyebrows in Saudi society. After a dispute between father and daughter, the girl begged her father to abuse her physically for 15 years and refused to marry her, while the father responds by filing lawsuits accusing his daughter of disobedience.

Badawi was detained in April 2010 and released in October of the same year after local and international solidarity campaigns. Samar was then transferred from her father to her uncle.

A campaign was launched through Twitter to demand the removal of the men's mandate for women in 2016, under the name of "Saudi women," calling for the overthrow of the state. Thousands of women signed a petition of 14,700 names, including many women activists, and addressed them to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The petition demanded the removal of the men's mandate for women to travel, work and study, to treat adult women as full citizens and to determine the age at which women would be responsible for the decision they made.

Intimidation and imprisonment
Among the defenders of the right of women in the state itself was the activist Maryam Al-Otaibi, who faced imprisonment after her father filed a lawsuit against her in 2017 because of the leadership of the campaign "Saudi women demand the overthrow of the state" on the social networking sites, Mary was only fled from her family's home After being subjected to violence by her father and brother, but spent three months in prison.

A few weeks before the Saudi women were allowed to drive, the Saudi authorities launched a violent crackdown on female activists who appeared in the campaign and appeared in their real names without fear. More than a dozen women activists, including Samar Badawi, Iman Al-Nafjan, the Saudi Women's Blog, British University, and with them Aziza Yusuf university professor and has a number of initiatives to cancel the mandate of men.

One of the activists still in jail today is Jane Al-Hathul, who was arrested in 2014 for entering Saudi Arabia across the UAE border and driving a private car. She was arrested again in 2017 at the Dammam airport in eastern Saudi Arabia.

How did the Saudi women receive the decision?
The controversy surrounding the lifting of the man's mandate has shifted to social networking platforms in the form of a feminist debate among supporters and dissent. But it is noteworthy that the views that favor the men's mandate over women were women themselves, claiming that the next steps would be to overthrow the veil.

Others considered that the state was a honor and protection for them, while one of the queens indicated via Twitter that her father gave her permission to travel throughout the validity of her passport, and only used her father's knowledge and satisfaction.

Suffering is not the same. Supporters of the resolution have said that raising the mandate does not mean that girls escape from their families. In fact, what has happened to girls over the past years is what drove them to flee in order to get rid of the guardianship of men.

The men may have disappeared from the arena of controversy, leaving the debate between supporters and opponents, and the sarcastic and caricature comments have disappeared so that everyone can share the accusations.

Some women attributed the credit to the role of women and not to the recent reform plans, with the campaigns to demand the overthrow of the state before years of intimidation and closure of the accounts of their owners on Twitter.

Activists arrested to date - such as Jane Hathall - have been charged with "suspected links with outside parties, providing financial support to hostile elements abroad and organizing organized acts to circumvent religious and national constants."

Disintegration of the state of the Saudi man
According to Saudi law, the guardianship system required women to obtain a male relative's permission to make a travel decision, and women were usually included in the man's passport. This system applies to all women in Saudi Arabia, regardless of their economic and social status, even if Women were subjected to physical violence by their guardians.

What will be difficult to do with the amended laws is that much of the man's tenure system is not covered by law, but is derived from tradition, practiced by some families in particular, and by state officials in general.

The system in place until now - the guardianship system - has been legally "lost": travel and study, but still has guardianship over marriage and divorce, opening a bank account and starting a business. As of today, Saudi women do not study or work in all fields due to gender segregation practices, forcing them to work in a field that provides places for women.

However, the governor still has to accompany the woman abroad in the context of receiving a university grant, receiving her when leaving a family violence shelter, or the courts to verify her identity. In addition, the release of a imprisoned woman can be done only with the consent of the guardian.

The mother moves to the father and then to the husband. If he dies or is divorced, she goes to her brother's hand and then gives birth. It is also difficult for a woman to change her guardian legally if she is harmed and it is difficult for her to complain to the police because she needs her guardian to report.