Saudi Women allowed traveling independently – Diligent IAS 07/08/2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags:

GUARDIANSHIP SYSTEM

 

For: Mains

Topics covered: About Guardianship system, Other reforms favouring women, Impact

 

News Flash

Saudi Arabia published new laws that loosen restrictions on women.

  • New laws allow all citizens, women and men, to apply for a passport and travel freely.
  • New rules allow any person 21 and older to travel abroad without prior consent and any citizen to apply for a Saudi passport on their own.
  • The new laws will be ending a long-standing guardianship policy that had controlled women’s freedom of movement.
  • The kingdom’s legal system treated adult women as minors, requiring they have a man’s consent to obtain a passport or travel abroad.

 

Other reforms

  • Women are allowed to register a marriage, divorce or a child’s birth, and obtain official family documents, which could ease hurdles women face in obtaining a national identity card and enrolling their children in school.
  • Women are now allowed to be legal guardians of their children, a right previously held only by men.

 

Pending reforms

  • Still in place, are rules that require male consent for a woman to leave prison, exit a domestic abuse shelter or marry.
  • Women, unlike men, still cannot pass on citizenship to their children and cannot provide consent for their children to marry.

 

Guardianship system

  • Under Saudi Arabia’s guardianship system, women essentially rely on the “goodwill” and whims of male relatives to determine the course of their lives.
  • The new laws could ease the guardianship system.

 

Source: The Hindu

 

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