Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia: Moving Forward

Abstract

Abstrac The media, both foreign and Arab, deals extensively with women's issues, in particular Muslim women. Women`s issues are present in many intellectual conflicts within the state and between several religious and intellectual parties. Also, those who are abroad use the situation of women in Saudi Arabia as a sign of a crisis. Dealing with the issue of women in general, and Saudi women in particular, is very difficult and complicated because of its religious, social and political dimensions. The problem in Saudi Arabia begins with the absence of serious sociological and anthropological studies to diagnose women's situations, issues, their internal image and the realities of their lives. Unfortunately, there are few sufficient reliable research studies or serious cognitive diagnosis available. The issue of women`s rights in Saudi Arabia began a long time ago. For example, the education of women was the first stage in which the conflict was not resolved completely. It started with a sovereign decision to open schools for female students, which the official religious trend and people at that time opposed. Several years after, the Saudi government approved compulsory education for both males and females five decades ago. The reluctance has attenuated to a certain pattern, which is currently confined by some to the idea of "guardianship of the male." It is the control of the male over women (study, scholarship, attendance at scientific meetings, government transactions, travel permits, etc.). After women began to become educated and to work in new places, Saudi women's demands and needs expanded, such as driving and laws on harassment and family protection. Moreover, recent new demands include dropping the guardianship. Women’s demands in the past two decades have been limited and urgent, and perhaps some of what the media has shown implied government approval to publish and is a kind of intellectual conflict management in society. However, what has happened in the last five years is breaking these limits and causing the rise of a new and sharp generation of women. They talk about real suffering and urgent topics such as dropping the guardianship and how they deal with the dimensions in different ways. Because of the social media, several social movements have emerged easily to the public with specific demands and specific goals, such as breaking the ban on driving for women. The reaction of official authorities was to arrest some activists who are controversial. We believe that women's issues are socially controversial. It is difficult for the society to move through these contentious issues, and people are not ready yet to accept change; it will take time. The new development of this broad current is the demand of a group of women for the abolition of the guardians, which is considered a stumbling block in the way of the development of Saudi women. A number of campaigns on social media have been held for this and insist that it is a legitimate right. In contrast, traditional adversaries claim that these demands are outside ideas introduced to destabilize the kingdom and provoke sedition. As a result, the social claims have been delayed for too long. However, certain demands seem to snowball day after day. This is not only true regarding women’s issues but with respect to most social issues. Initiating the enactment of laws and social reform programs is required in the interest of the country. Defusing social tensions without solving these issues leads to more complicated problems. Some of the claimants are suffering, and they are calling for a solution for their problems and suffering. Just as many other countries suffer from social problems, some Saudi Arabians are concerned with some social problems. In fact, there are rights granted to women from Islam, which is considered the constitution of Saudi Arabia. However, so