Post written by Rebekah Bunch – When Will Saudi Women Celebrate Their Own Women’s History Month?
As National Women’s History Month is beginning, I cannot help but to think about the women in Saudi Arabia.
While these women have fought for their basic human rights for decades, they do not have much to show for their efforts. Although Saudi women can now drive, carry their own identification cards, and be employed, they still are subject to the control of their guardian in many ways.
Under the male guardianship system, Saudi women are treated as permanent minors and require their guardian’s permission to do most things in life.
The Male Guardianship System
For example, even though Saudi women can now drive, a woman with a particularly strict guardian may still need his permission to drive to the store. These women deserve the right to live their lives in the way that they please. For years Saudi women have been treated as prisoners in their own homes, with their own families.
The Saudi government continues to put women’s rights reform on the backburner. At the G20 Riyadh Summit, the government ensured to restrict any meaningful discussion of women’s rights. The Saudi government also continues to imprison women’s rights activists who demanded for the end of the male guardianship system. It is clear that the Saudi government has no real intention of freeing their women from its patriarchal grasp, so it is time for the women, men, and nations across the world to stand for these women and push for the Saudi Arabian government to halt with their obstruction of reforms for women.
YOU Can Help
To help bring awareness and change, you can sign this petition for the release of women’s rights activist: https://lnkd.in/dQth9jB.
To learn more about the treatment of Saudi women and what solutions should be implemented to release them from oppression, read my article on the topic: https://lnkd.in/drDCpGr.
This post was written by a Center for Global Justice Law Clerk. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School. Or the Center for Global Justice.