Saudi Arabia relaxes the guardian system for women

CAIRO – 9 May 2017: This week Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud issued a royal decree allowing women greater access to government services including education and healthcare, under certain circumstances, without the need to receive consent from a male guardian, according to Gulf Insider.

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The decree was based on proposals from the Saudi cabinet and it applies to all government bodies, education, health facilities functioning in both the public and private sector, among other institutions. All relevant government agencies and bodies were instructed to review and amend all procedures related to public services affecting Saudi women and girls.

The decree and the cabinet’s move to put this proposal forward for discussion comes as a response to constant and vigorous lobbying carried out by female activists in Saudi Arabia, according to BBC sources.

These efforts include a campaign launched in September 2016 to end the guardianship system where a petition was signed by more than 14,000 women and handed to the government to formally effect the system’s cessation. The campaign went viral in response to a trending Arabic Twitter hashtag ‘’I am my own guardian’’ in July 2016.

Prior to this campaign, Saudi Arabia witnessed another important female emancipation campaign in 2011 under the slogan "Women2Drive". The theme of this campaign was the encouragement of women to disregard the laws and post images and videos of themselves driving on social media to raise awareness of the issue in a defiant attempt to force change. That campaign however, was not a major success.

There are no specific laws in Saudi Arabia banning women from key services but some agencies and officials, including those working in government bodies, used to request male permission. Such actions are attributed to what is generally perceived as a male-dominated culture.

Since 2011, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, considered one of the most gender-segregated countries in the world, witnessed the issuing of a series of more progressive regulations aimed at advancing and elevating the status of women in Saudi Arabia. These regulations come at a time when the state is working to diversify its economy and diminish its reliance on oil.

The issued orders include a 2011 order by the late King Abdullah to allow women to join the government advisory Shura Council. In 2012 females were allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time. Currently, women now can vote in municipal elections and work in retail and hospital jobs.

It is worth mentioning that in April 2017, Saudi Arabia was elected into the UN’s women’s commission. This means that Saudi Arabia is now one of 45 countries responsible for promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women, according to The Independent.

The World Economic Forum’s 2015 Global Gender Gap also ranked Saudi Arabia as 134 out of 145 countries in terms of gender equality, according to The Independent. The new more relaxed version of the male guardian system is potentially a vital step for women to have more control over their life choices.