In 2001, Saudi Arabia signed the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), but much more is yet to be done if women’s civil rights are to make it beyond paper. 
Because of well-entrenched laws and customs of male guardianship and sex segregation, women remain “perpetual minors” in Saudi Arabia, a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report finds. 

Under Shariah law, all women, regardless of age, are assigned a male guardian – a father, husband, brother, or sometimes, son – from whom they must ask permission in even the most basic things such as travel, study, or medical care.  Male guardianship is founded on a conservative interpretation of Sura 4, Verse 34 in the Qur’an that reads: “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because God has given the one more [strength] than the other, and because they support them from their means.”  Thus, women are severely crippled in their capacity to make fundamental, everyday, but critical life decisions.

One woman – 40 years old, divorced, and whose father had died – had to seek permission from her son to travel outside the kingdom.  He was 23 years old.  Technically, because of a recent decision made by Interior Ministry, women who are 45 years old and above may now travel without permission, but airport officials still ask for written proof of authorisation from their male guardian.  
Though education is now more accessible to girls and women – female literacy jumps from 16% to 85% in the last 35 years – significant barriers persist.  Girls and women are first required permission from their male guardians to study.  Sometimes, their male guardians are the ones to personally enroll and register them for school courses.  Girls and women are also often allocated inferior facilities in school compared to their male counterparts.  In King Saud University, Saudi’s largest public university, female students occupy the older buildings with a second-rate library.  The main library in the male colleges is off-limits to women, except for a one 9-hour day per week.  Furthermore, female dormers are disallowed from leaving the campus without their legal guardian.  

Medical care for women, too, is restricted by the male guardianship system.  Depending on the rules and religious views of the hospital, women may only receive the medical attention they or their children need if they have their guardian’s consent.  At times when this is unavailable, two medical consultants and a medical director must sign off the medical procedure.

Women’s capacity to work and vote, even to seek justice in court, are implicated by Saudi’s deeply ensconced customs.   Businesses and government agencies, before hiring women or providing them with government services, must have separate spaces for males and females.  In cases where they are not, a male guardian must accompany them.  In 2005, the government did not provide separate voting booths for women, thereby denying the vote of 50% of the population.  Women, after jumping through hoops to successfully file a court case without a legal guardian, sometimes cannot testify without a male relative to confirm their identity.  

By acceding to the UN CEDAW, Saudi Arabia is under legal obligation to dismantle all barriers to women’s full enjoyment of their civil and human rights.  The HRW urges King Abdullah to abolish his kingdom’s sex segregation and male guardianship practices by royal decree.  

Sources:
Human Rights Watch.  (2008, April).  Perpetual minors: Human rights abuses stemming from male guardianship and sex segregation in Saudi Arabia.  Retrieved on April 25, 2008, from http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/saudiarabia0408/
Lobe, J.  (21 April, 2008)   Saudi Arabia: Women still treated as ‘perpetual minors.’ Retrieved on April 25, 2008, from http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42074