Recently there has been an interesting development pertaining to Saudi women's mobility hitting the news. No, we're still not allowed to drive here and it doesn't look like we will be any time soon. But first, let me give you a little background information to help explain the reasoning for this new policy. Saudi women have the legal status of children their entire lives. There is a designated male guardian who is legally responsible for each and every Saudi woman, no matter how old she is. From birth until she marries, the woman's legal guardian is her father. Upon marriage, her legal guardian becomes her husband. In cases where she no longer has a father or husband, the responsibility falls to another relative, such as her brother, uncle, or son.
"Mahram" is the Saudi term given for the woman's legal guardian. Without her mahram's permission and/or accompaniment, a Saudi woman may not continue her education, travel, work, receive medical attention, marry, or appear in court. Many Saudi women are very happy with this arrangement of not being responsible for major decisions in their lives and being taken care of. However, as you can imagine, this system opens the door for abuses of many Saudi women by unscrupulous and misguided male guardians.
Outsiders tend to interpret this guardianship system as Saudi women being nothing more than the property of men, which Saudis vehemently deny. Saudis argue that their women are treated with more respect and have more rights than their western counterparts, which I must admit is an argument that I don't see or understand.
So what is the new mobility issue that has been in the news here lately? Saudi Arabia has implemented a new tracking system for women and other dependents. Saudi men will now receive a text message when their wives, children, or even sponsored employees leave or enter the country in a program being called "Relax! We'll track your wife down!" Some have wondered why the government just doesn't go ahead and equip Saudi women with ankle bracelets similar to those worn by criminals, or better yet, why not just implant an electronic chip under the women's skin? Of course women cannot leave the country without her mahram's written consent, but one did slip through the cracks recently causing quite a scandal, so apparently this is what has prompted this new female monitoring and tracking system.
I might point out that phone companies in the US offer tracking services for family members' phones. It is an optional tracking service offered for a fee that many parents use to keep tabs on their teenagers who are on their phone plan. Of course, if the phone is turned off no tracking signal is emitted. Also a common practice in the states is to implant pets with electronic GPS chips for tracking in case the pet is lost. GPS technology has opened up a world of amazing, though sometimes scarey, possibilities. But Saudi women are adults, not property or pets.
At any rate, Saudi women continue to feel the grip tightening and the thought of true freedom continues to be an elusive dream for many. Saudi men continue to enjoy their own personal freedoms while exerting their control and retaining their dominance and power over the women of this country.
Are Saudi men really that insecure and distrustful, and do Saudi women really need to be monitored and controlled in these ways?
"Mahram" is the Saudi term given for the woman's legal guardian. Without her mahram's permission and/or accompaniment, a Saudi woman may not continue her education, travel, work, receive medical attention, marry, or appear in court. Many Saudi women are very happy with this arrangement of not being responsible for major decisions in their lives and being taken care of. However, as you can imagine, this system opens the door for abuses of many Saudi women by unscrupulous and misguided male guardians.
Outsiders tend to interpret this guardianship system as Saudi women being nothing more than the property of men, which Saudis vehemently deny. Saudis argue that their women are treated with more respect and have more rights than their western counterparts, which I must admit is an argument that I don't see or understand.
So what is the new mobility issue that has been in the news here lately? Saudi Arabia has implemented a new tracking system for women and other dependents. Saudi men will now receive a text message when their wives, children, or even sponsored employees leave or enter the country in a program being called "Relax! We'll track your wife down!" Some have wondered why the government just doesn't go ahead and equip Saudi women with ankle bracelets similar to those worn by criminals, or better yet, why not just implant an electronic chip under the women's skin? Of course women cannot leave the country without her mahram's written consent, but one did slip through the cracks recently causing quite a scandal, so apparently this is what has prompted this new female monitoring and tracking system.
I might point out that phone companies in the US offer tracking services for family members' phones. It is an optional tracking service offered for a fee that many parents use to keep tabs on their teenagers who are on their phone plan. Of course, if the phone is turned off no tracking signal is emitted. Also a common practice in the states is to implant pets with electronic GPS chips for tracking in case the pet is lost. GPS technology has opened up a world of amazing, though sometimes scarey, possibilities. But Saudi women are adults, not property or pets.
At any rate, Saudi women continue to feel the grip tightening and the thought of true freedom continues to be an elusive dream for many. Saudi men continue to enjoy their own personal freedoms while exerting their control and retaining their dominance and power over the women of this country.
Are Saudi men really that insecure and distrustful, and do Saudi women really need to be monitored and controlled in these ways?
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