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Saudi approves first women's rights group
Saudi Arabia will establish a society dedicated to the rights of the kingdom’s women after two years of negotiations, the society's founder said in comments published on Monday.
Suliman Al-Salman said the Ministry of Social Affairs had finally approved the creation of Ansar Al-Marah, the kingdom’s first civil society, Saudi daily Arab News reported.
The society aims to create institutional and individual change to improve the lives of women in the Saudi, Al-Salman.
It will increase awareness of women’s right by facilitating ongoing debates on fundamental and provocative women issues, and help women improve their social, educational and cultural levels, she added.
"The majority of women today are under the dominance of men. They can't be active members of society because of restrictions over their ability to leave home and arrange transport, and their being unable to get the simplest things unless they go through men," she told the newspaper.
Al-Salman said that the current women's assemblies in the kingdom tended to function under the framework of humanitarian relief, but Ansar Al-Marah would act as an intermediate body between women and officials.
The society comprises 21 men and women from both the Shi'ite and Sunni communities. Members include researchers, academics, educators and activists.
The establishment of Ansar Al-Marah comes at a time when women's rights in Saudi Arabia are gaining increasing media attention both at home and abroad.
Under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic law, a woman is not allowed to be in the company of a man who is not a member of her family.
However, Saudi King Abdullah is in the process of implementing reforms that extend what a woman can do and where she can go without a male guardian.
A media report last week claimed that the government was preparing to lift its longstanding ban on female drivers.
RELATED: Saudi women get freedom to drive
A separate report the same day said women were to be allowed to stay in hotels or furnished apartments without a male guardian.
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