However, in 2018 the crown prince somewhat relaxed the dress code, and said women did not have to wear an abaya in public. Traditionally, the abaya – a long, loose garment that typically has a black headscarf or niqab which was the norm through much of the 20th century – is worn over a woman’s clothing when in public.
The New York Times’ Cairo Bureau Chief Vivian Yee also noted that “it still falls to women in many households to negotiate their freedoms” with male relatives. Several women’s rights activists have been imprisoned in recent years, with some facing restricted freedoms even after their release. Saudi Arabia remains in the ten lowest-ranked countries on the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Global Gender Gap report. Duaa Dhainy, a researcher at the European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, said the reforms “don’t impact the human rights situation in a meaningful way”, Deutsche Welle reported.ĭespite “some changes” there has been “no real difference” to the country’s stance on freedom of opinion, Dhainy continued. A male relative is still required to give permission for a woman to marry, start certain types of business, leave prison or leave a domestic abuse shelter.Ĭritics say that the reforms amount to little more than “propaganda”. Although women can now undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca without a male guardian – which one woman told Voice of America was a “miracle” – they can only do so as part of a group. However, the country remains incredibly prohibitive on what women can and cannot do. A year later, a change in regulations meant women could drive for the first time in the kingdom. The reforms, alongside his diversification strategy, known as Vision 2030, would help Saudi Arabia to “eradicate the remnants of extremism” and embrace a more “moderate” version of Islamic law under his leadership, he said in 2017. The changes are part of the crown prince’s plan to modernise the Middle Eastern country.
Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, women have had the right to get their own passports, as well as travel abroad and live independently without the permission of a male guardian, or “wali”.