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Updated June 11th, 2021 at 18:25 IST

Saudi Arabia allows women to live independently without male guardian's approval

Saudi Arabia court scrapped Paragraph B under article No. 169 of the “Law of Procedure before Sharia Courts” that prohibited women to have “full independence”.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
Saudi Arabia
IMAGE: Twitter/@AboutHerOFCL/AP | Image:self
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In a landmark decision, Saudi Arabia on Thursday officially allowed single, divorced, or widowed women to live independently without any permission from the male head of the family such as the father, husband, or any other male guardian, the Makkah newspaper reported. The women in Saudi Arabia can now have a separate accommodation without the vigilance of the men, the government announced as the apex court scrapped the Paragraph B under article No. 169 of the “Law of Procedure before Sharia Courts” that prohibited women to have “full independence” without male supervision after they were divorced, or widowed or in case they were single. 

“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,” the Arabic newspaper reported citing the content of the legal document that carried the historic law. “If a woman is sentenced to a jail term, she will not be handed over to her guardian after completing her term,” it continued. Furthermore, Makkah quoted a statement from the prominent Arabic lawyer Naif Al Mansi who said that with the scrapping of the old law, the families in Saudi can no longer file lawsuits against their daughters if they chose to live independently. 

Lawsuit against 32-year-old woman for 'fleeing' home

Saudi’s legal amendment was brought in after the 32-year-old woman Saudi writer Mariam Al Otaibi won the case filed against her by the family under the “absenteeism” law that contested her travelling along without seeking prior permission from the father. The court however ruled that the woman had the right to “choose where to live.” The court document also stated that  if the woman is sentenced to a jail term, upon losing a case filed by the family, she will “not be handed over to her guardian after completing her term.”

Otaibi’s lawyer Abdul Rahman Al Lahem argued in court that in 2021 it was not a crime for a woman to live independently on her own without male guardianship. The writer’s family had taken legal action after she decided to move to Riyadh, the capital, and live by herself. She was arrested in April 2017 by the Saudi police after she fled home in Ar Rass, 400km northwest of Riyadh. The woman told the prosecutors that she faced abuse from her father and her brothers. The court then pronounced the sweeping judgment in the woman's favour scrapping the law completely. 

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Published June 11th, 2021 at 18:25 IST

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