Saudi women vote for first time but here are 9 things they can’t do
Saudi Arabia is the world’s only country banning women from getting behind the wheel.
Saudi women vote Saturday for the first time in elections but still face a host of other restrictions, among the tightest in the world.
Under Saudi policies and practices women cannot:
- Drive. Saudi Arabia is the world’s only country banning women from getting behind the wheel.
- Travel, without the consent of a male family member known as a guardian
- Marry, without the consent of a guardian
- Work, without the consent of a guardian
- Appear in public without covering herself in a black abaya robe from head to toe
- Receive the same amount of inheritance as a man
- Work in certain jobs
- Mingle with unrelated men in public places such as restaurants
- Divorce as easily as a man
Saudi women can:
- Vote in municipal elections, the kingdom’s only polls for public officials
- Sit on the Shura Council, an appointed body which advises cabinet
- Hold the most senior corporate executive posts
- Work in government administration and an expanding number of private sector areas, including as lawyers
- Be forced to marry at a young age, as there is no legally defined minimum age