Finally, Saudi Arabia considers single, divorced, and widowed women independent in their choices. Makkah newspaper reported these women can live independently without anyone’s approval. Moreover, they won’t need any permission from their father or any other male guardian.
The women won’t be contested at their own decisions. Therefore, women would now have strong legal support from the kingdom. Furthermore, the media mentioned, Kingdom has amended a part of the law. The law, part of Article 169 of the Law of Procedure before Sharia (paragraph B) was replaced. It stated that
An adult single, divorced, or widowed woman would be handed over to her male guardian.
Hence, Saudia provided women with the right to live alone. The new statement is,
“An adult woman has the right to choose where to live. A woman’s guardian can report her only if he has evidence proving she committed a crime.”
All the details were mentioned, along with the condition of being arrested. According to the Gulf News,
“If a woman is sentenced to a jail term, she will not be handed over to her guardian after completing her term,”
Furthermore, It was also mentioned that families cannot force women to come back home. They would be independent in this decision too.
The cause of amendment | Decision about Saudi Women
Mariam Al Otaibi, 32, is a Saudi Writer. She won a case in July 2020. Her family sued her for traveling alone under the “absenteeism” law. She had spent 100+ days in jail. She had left her father’s home without his permission. This is all she was accused of. However, The case was lead by the lawyer “Abdul Rahman Al Lahem”.
She migrated from the ultra-traditionalist province Qassim to the capital of the kingdom. In Capital, she rented an apartment and started finding jobs. After a three-year battle in court with her family as the opposition, she won the case. Therefore, Court decided that she was independent to choose where to live.
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