Two female members of Saudi Arabia's Shoura Council have issued a recommendation that, if approved, would end the controversial male guardian system in the country, a document obtained by Zawya shows.

The two Shoura members, Dr. Mody AlKhalaf and Dr. Latifah Ashaalan, made a recommendation to the council to limit the existing system, which restricts women’s travel without permission of a male guardian. They have proposed amendments to the respective statutes, which they state are in accordance with ratified international human rights agreements.

An Arabic document of the recommendation sent by Dr. Alkhalaf to Zawya said that some of the current regulations entail clear discrimination against women, such as the need for the consent of a male guardian for the issuance of passports or for traveling abroad.

“There also some practices that discriminate against women in education and workforce opportunities,” the document added.

Saudi women currently face tough labour market conditions, with more than one million women currently actively seeking employment. (Read more here).

In the latest breakthrough for women in Saudi Arabia, however, the country's Directorate of Public Security announced a few days ago that women can now join some military posts in the rank of soldiers. (Read more here).

The Kingdom also recently appointed a woman to a senior government role as a deputy minister. (Read more here). 

“After women entered the Shoura Council as full members and joined the municipal councils as both candidates and voters, a royal decree allowed women to benefit from some services without the need of a guardian’s consent,” the document said.

“This was followed by the historical royal decree to allow women to drive which confirms the Kingdom's current shift to amend laws and practices that discriminate against women in a way that does not violate Islamic law,” AlKhalaf and Ashaalan added in the recommendation. 

A royal decree issued last year relaxed some of the rules of male guardianship by allowing women to benefit from government services such as education and healthcare without gaining the consent of a male guardian. However, women still need the approval of a guardian - father, husband or son – to marry, travel abroad, or request a passport. (Read more here).

A senior member of Saudi Arabia's top Muslim clerical body had earlier said that male guardianship system should only apply to marriage, in response to an online campaign calling for an end to the guardianship system. (Read more here).

Last month, the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Investment also announced that women no longer needed the permission of a male guardian to start their own businesses. (Read more here).

The recommendation also noted that the election of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Women's Rights Committee, which aims to empower women and achieve gender equality, has led to widespread global reactions due to the aforementioned regulations.

“The time period we live in and the qualitative shift seen for the future of the Kingdom under the vision of 2030, obliges (the) Human Rights Commission to review regulations that have long been a source of criticism to the Kingdom with respect to women's rights,” the recommendation said.

Last year, Saudi Arabia was elected by United Nations member states to serve on its women’s rights commission, triggering a stern response from human rights watch groups. 

Last month, Ed Royce, chairman of the United States’ House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, said that reforms to women’s rights in the Kingdom could help to “unleash its economy”.

“A country that utilises only half its population can never realise its full potential,” he said. (Read more here).

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(Reporting by Nada Al Rifai; Editing by Michael Fahy)

(nada.rifai@thomsonreuters.com)

 

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