Women In Saudi Arabia: Inequalities And Violations Of Their Fundamental Human Rights

Unfortunately, despite the many remarkable advancements made in the acquisition of women’s rights around the world, millions of women still suffer egregious inequalities and violations of their fundamental human rights. Intersecting forms of discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, nationality, education, marital status, health status, and employment are entrenched in domestic laws, customs, regulations, and practices in many countries. Discrimination against women is more severe in Islamic countries where women are relegated to subservient roles and are restricted by religious laws. These religious laws can be described as extraordinary impediments that prohibit women from enjoying and exercising inalienable human rights and fundamental freedoms to which they are entitled. Saudi Arabian women continue to be denied the rights to basic employment, freedom of movement, equality in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance, education, proper healthcare, and participation in public life. The Qur’an being the supreme law in Saudi Arabia plays an integral and indivisible part in explicitly articulating that women should not enjoy the same substantive human rights as men. Indisputably, the Qur’an is the legal apparatus upon which Saudi Arabia’s discriminatory traditional and customary practices, cultural prejudices and religious extremism are embedded and enforced.

All criminal and civil cases in Saudi Arabia are tried under Sharia Law which derives from the Qur’an and the Sunnah (the traditions) of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Thus, religious Islamic institutions exercise a crucial and dominant role in the governance of Saudi Arabia. Additionally, these institutions have widespread legal, political and economic influence over the prospects of the citizen`s lives. Moreover, they also discharge administrative and executive authority over Saudi Arabia’s exclusive male judiciary and the policing of public morality. Notwithstanding the multifarious international human rights activism and advocacy by the United Nations, the dominant religious organizations in Saudi Arabia continue to oppose legally conferring the same equal status on women as men. Such strict interpretation and application of Shari Law severely curtails any progress achieve through activism and advocacy to end extreme discrimination and persecution against women in Saudi Arabia

For countless generations, Saudi Arabian women have been victims of marginalization. Saudi Arabia is considered to have one of the lowest female employment rates in the Middle East. The proceeding importance of traditional values such as family modesty and honor is epitomized in Saudi Arabia. Thus, gainful employment is viewed as the sole responsibility of a woman’s husband. Women’s involvement in working outside of their place of abode leads to social stigmatization. Additionally, there are many formal and informal barriers confronting women when attempting to seek gainful employment. In many instances, employers require the consent or approval of a female’s guardian to work or access employment opportunities. Although Saudi Arabia has increased employment opportunities for women in recent years and no longer enforces formal guardianship restrictions on women wishing to work, the authorities do not penalize private or public employers who require a guardian’s consent for women to work or restrict jobs to men. In addition, some professions particularly the judicial arena remain off-limits to women. Recently, Saudi authorities allowed women to access sectors of work that were previously prohibited to women such as air traffic control, passport control, and investigators in public prosecution. However, strict sex segregation policies continue to act as a disincentive to employers considering hiring women.

Undeniably, no country restricts the movement of its female population more than Saudi Arabia. According to The Human Rights Watch World Report 2019, Saudi Arabia’s discriminatory male guardianship system remained intact despite the government wavering of certain restrictions on women’s rights and subsequent pledge to completely abolish the guardianship system. Under this discriminatory system, adult women must obtain permission from a male guardian—usually a husband, father, brother, or son—to travel abroad, obtain a passport, marry, or be discharged from prison. Additionally, guardian consent to access basic healthcare is still commonplace. Women cannot of their own volition apply for a passport or travel outside the country without their male guardian’s approval. These restrictions are imposed and enforced by the Interior Ministry. In accordance with customary and traditional practices, some women are prevented from leaving their homes without their guardian’s permission. Their guardian can also seek a court order compelling a woman to return to the family home. The many travel restrictions imposed on women in Saudi Arabia make it very difficult for women who are victims of domestic to flee the country. Thus, many are forced into hacking into their male guardian’s phone to change their travel permission settings or run away from family members while outside the country.

Apart from the conglomerate of restrictions placed on the freedom of movement for women, Saudi Arabia authorities also limit a woman’s ability to enter freely into marriage. Women are required to obtain the permission of a male guardian before marriage can commence. A woman’s formal consent is orally required to be given before the religious authority officiating the marriage ceremony. Both the woman and her male guardian are legally obliged to sign the marriage contract. According to Saudi Arabia’s marriage law, a woman can only be betrothed to one man. In contrast, men can marry up to four wives at a time. The male guardianship system prevents any form of marital equality. A man literally controls a Saudi woman’s life from her birth until her death. Every Saudi woman is legally mandated to have a male guardian, normally a father or husband, but in some cases a brother or even a son. Their guardian has the power to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf. Saudi law has no minimum marriage age. Reports by local Saudi media outlets of occasional child marriages involving girls as young as eight (8yrs) have invoked international condemnation by various human rights bodies and watchdogs. The Saudi state essentially treats women as permanent legal minors. On January 9, 2019, Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, an advisory body, overwhelmingly passed a proposal setting the minimum age of marriage at 18, but leaving exceptions for girls ages 15 to 18 to marry with court approval.

In comparison to many other Muslim-majority countries, Saudi Arabia’s legal system is founded on Islamic law. However, Saudi Arabia has no written family law. Women’s right to divorce is restricted and abridged. While men may unilaterally divorce their wives without condition, the same rights are not afforded to women. A man is not required under the marital laws to inform his wife that he intends to divorce her. Additionally, a divorce decree can be granted without the appearance of the wife in court. Recently, Saudi Arabia authorities introduced a notification system that allows for women to be notified by text when a man registers his divorce in the courts. Human Rights Watch International reports that men commonly unilaterally divorce their wives orally without engaging any legal process and legal documentation. Thus, the burden of proof is on the wife or woman to prove to the courts that their husband has divorced them.

There are no current provisions under Saudi Arabia’s constitution that allow women to unilaterally divorce. Moreover, the divorce process is lengthier and more costly for women. Thus, in order for married women to avoid the complications of the traditional divorce process, they either seek a khul’ divorce. A khul’ divorce is one where the husband agrees to the divorce petition on the condition that his wife will pay back the full amount of her dowry. The other alternative for women is to apply to the courts for a fault-based divorce on limited grounds and must prove the fault, such as mistreatment by the husband. Due to the absence of family law and personal status, the determination of mistreatment resists in the remit of the presiding male judge. Despite the initiation of divorce proceedings, a woman’s husband remains her guardian throughout the process with the authority to control her decisions.

In the matter of legal custody of children in Saudi Arabia, a court can allow children to live with their mothers after a divorce has been granted. However, the right for a woman to be her child’s legal guardian is nonexistent. In many instances, girls are transferred to the father’s custody at age seven (7), whereas, boys may decide at age nine (9) which parent they desire to live with. Fortunately, in 2014, the authorities issued a ruling that when children are ordered to live with their mothers after divorce, she can obtain legal documents and conduct government business for them. This hallmark ruling enabled women to register their children in schools, take them to health centers, and obtain identity documents for them. Notwithstanding this commendable feat, fathers still maintain the right to grant travel permission for children or to authorize daughters’ marriages.

In contrast to Saudi Arabia, The Bahamas – like many countries in the western hemisphere- can boast of the freedoms enjoyed by women, which are enshrined in our constitution. Such rights include the freedom of employment, movement, religion, conscience, education, and healthcare. Women are generally afforded the same civil liberties as men in most respects and are recognized as equal under our constitution. However, there are still some areas where women are disadvantaged. A report by the World Bank Group, titled “Women, Business and the Law 2016,” listed The Bahamas as one of twenty-two (22) countries in the world whose constitutions do not allow for married women to convey their nationality to their children and spouses the same way that men are entitled to. Additionally, the report indicated that the Bahamas is one of forty-four (44) countries in the world in which spouses do not have equal rights to convey citizenship. Thus, The Bahamas was cited as being one of many countries that hosts “gender-based legal restrictions.”

Undoubtedly, the road to equality is still far-reaching for Saudi Arabia’s women. The injustices embedded in their constitution coupled with discriminatory traditional and customary practices paints a grim reality for young ambitious women who aspire to achieve equal footing with their male counterparts at the educational, political and socio-economic levels. The perpetuation of discrimination at all spheres in Saudi Arabia is likely to continue until there is a metamorphosis of a collective mindset which embraces equality at all levels. This new mindset must see change as inevitable and in the best interest of Saudi Arabia’s future prospects and development. There must be intentional and coordinated efforts by local authorities to remedy the many egregious wrongs sanctioned and perpetuated under their constitution towards women. Arguably, Saudi Arabia’s gender policies constitute a crime against humanity and warrant strategic and forceful intervention from the international community. Unequivocally, women are entitled to enjoy the same civil liberties as men and to deny women this entitlement is an act of injustice against nature itself.