In a report released today, Human Rights Watch criticises Saudi Arabia's "guardianship" policy, wherein every woman must receive permission from a male guardian to travel, study, exit prison, marry, etc. Recently, Saudi Arabia reformed its policies so that women can go out to work without asking permission, but HRW believes the government needs to do more, as the legal change has not yet trickled down to change social norms.
"The impact these restrictive policies have on a woman’s ability to pursue a career or make life decisions varies, but is largely dependent on the good will of her male guardian," the report explains. "In some cases, men use the authority that the male guardianship system grants them to extort female dependents. Guardians have conditioned their consent for women to work or to travel on her paying him large sums of money."