According to sources saudi arabia on Friday published new laws that loosen restrictions on women by allowing all citizens women and men alike to apply for a passport and travel freely, ending a long-standing guardianship policy that had controlled women’s freedom of movement. Reportedly the new laws, a potential game-changer for Saudi women’s rights, are to go into effect by the end of the month.
Meanwhile the kingdom’s legal system has long been criticized because it treated adult women as minors, requiring they have a man’s consent to obtain a passport or travel abroad. Furthermore often a woman’s male guardian is her father or husband, and in some cases a woman’s son and the changes were widely celebrated by Saudis on Twitter, with many posting memes showing people dashing to the airport with luggage and others hailing the 33 year-old crown prince believed to be the force behind these moves.
Moreover to leave the country, some Saudi women say they had to hack into their father’s phone and change the settings on a government app to allow themselves permission to leave the country. Perhaps there were calls in Washington for Google and apple to block access to the app entirely and the new rules, approved by King Salman and his Cabinet, allow any person 21 and older to travel abroad without prior consent and any citizen to apply for a Saudi passport on their own and the government said the new rules would be in effect by the end of August.
