What are women banned from doing in Saudi Arabia?

Jan 23, 2020

Social reforms in the kingdom not as far reaching as first assumed, say campaigners

Hassan Ammar/AFP/Getty Images

Since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came to power in Saudi Arabia in June 2017, the kingdom has hit the headlines for a string of surprising reforms.

In late 2019, the crown prince introduced new freedoms on females travelling alone, allowing them to get passports and travel abroad without the consent of male guardians.

In an article for The Guardian, Madawi al-Rasheed, a professor at the London School of Economics, notes that in the same period, women were allowed to “register a birth, marriage or divorce”.

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