RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will allow women to travel abroad without approvalfrom a male “guardian”, the government said on Thursday, ending arestriction that drew international censure and prompted extreme attemptsto flee the kingdom.
The landmark reform erodes the longstanding guardianship system thatrenders women permanently as legal minors and allows their “guardians” –husband, father and other male relatives – to exercise arbitrary authorityover them.
The decision, following years of campaigning by activists, comes afterhigh-profile attempts by women to escape their guardians despite a stringof reforms including a historic decree last year that overturned theworld’s only ban on female motorists.
“A passport will be granted to any Saudi national who submits anapplication,” said a government ruling published in the official gazette *UmmAl Qura*.
The regulation effectively allows women over the age of 21 to obtainpassports and leave the country without their guardian’s permission, thepro-government *Okaz*newspaper and other local media reported, citingsenior authorities.
Women in the kingdom have long required permission from their male“guardians” to marry, renew their passports or exit the country. Thedecision grants women “greater autonomy and mobility”, said Kristin Diwanof the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
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“If fully implemented [this is] a big step in letting adult Saudi womentake control of their own lives,” Diwan added.
The pro-government Saudi Gazette newspaper hailed the decision as “onegiant leap for Saudi women”.
The ruling comes as Saudi Arabia faces heightened scrutiny over its humanrights record, including an ongoing trial of women activists who have longdemanded that the guardianship system be dismantled.
