Over 14,000 Saudi women filed a first-of-its-kind petition with the kingdom’s government to end its system of male guardianship.
Saudi law mandates all women must have permission from a male guardian to perform a host of basic tasks, from scheduling of medical appointments to travel. Online activism that started with a Human Rights Watch report on the issue in July led to the historic filing Monday at the kingdom’s Royal Court.
“They’ve made undeniably clear they won’t stand to be treated as second-class citizens any longer, and it’s high time their government listened,” Human Rights Watch researcher Kristine Beckerle told BBC Monday, calling the petition “unprecedented.”
Activist Aziza Al-Yousef told the BBC she is “very proud” of the campaign and unafraid of negative repercussions it might bring by powerful critics.
“I’m not worried, I’m not doing anything wrong,” she told the network. “In every aspect, the important issue is to treat a woman as a full citizen,” she said. We never had a problem with campaigning, but the problem is there is no answer. But we always hope — without hope, you cannot work.”
There has been no official response to the activists’ petition yet, BBC reported.
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• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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