No Freedom to Travel - End Male Guardianship in Saudi Arabia
Read a text description of this video
Phone texts:
Invitation to speak at a cardiac surgery conference in London.
Son, please grant me permission to travel.
Please grant me permission to travel.
I don’t feel like it.
I’m busy.
Text on screen:
Does it make sense to require a woman to obtain permission from a male guardian so she can travel?
Text on screen:
We Stand Together to End Male Guardianship of Women
Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system remains the most significant impediment to women’s rights in the country despite limited reforms over the last decade. Adult women must obtain permission from a male guardian to travel abroad, marry, or be released from prison, and may be required to provide guardian consent to work or get health care. These restrictions last from birth until death, as women are, in the view of the Saudi state, permanent legal minors. Women in Saudi Arabia face formal and informal barriers when attempting to make decisions or take action without the presence or consent of a male relative. As one 25-year-old Saudi woman told Human Rights Watch, “We all have to live in the borders of the boxes our dads or husbands draw for us.” In some cases, men use the permission requirements to extort large sums of money from female dependents.
