Loopholes riddle Saudi reforms on 'guardianship' of women: Report

Saudi Arabia has eased travel restrictions on women but observers say loopholes still allow male relatives to curtail their movements and, in the worst cases, leave them marooned in prison-like shelters. In August, the kingdom allowed women over the age of 21 to obtain passports without seeking the approval of their "guardians" - fathers, husbands or other male relatives. The move, part of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to revamp the national image, ended a long-standing rule that prompted some extreme attempts to flee the kingdom. But campaigners warn it is easy to sidestep the reform. While allowing travel documents, Saudi Arabia has not done away with "taghayyub" - a legal provision that means "absent" in Arabic and which has long been used to constrain women who leave home without permission. "Guardians can still file a police complaint that their female relatives are 'absent', which would lead to their arrest and possible detention in Dar al-Reaya [women's shelter]," Eman Alhussein, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP news agency. Activists and rights groups, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), say the shelters are run like detention facilities, and it is unclear how many women they hold. Saudi Arabia pressured after female activists allege torture (03:44) "Saudi [fathers] can't stop the girls getting passports but they can still declare them missing to local police who will then track them down for the parents," an official told AFP, calling it a "massive loophole". Saudi authorities did not respond to AFP's requests for comment. Last year, members of the advisory Shura Council recommended the justice ministry stop accepting taghayyub cases as a way to slowly dismantle the guardianship system, but the suggestion seems to have been ignored. Officials in Riyadh told AFP that dozens of women have applied for passports since the reform was announced. "Today, I came to request a new passport for the first time in my life," a 40-year-old woman said as she made the application at a government office. "I am very happy and this step gives confidence to Saudi women." The move was celebrated as a historic leap for gender equality, triggering humorous online memes featuring women dashing alone to the airport with suitcases. But the move also prompted laments for the perceived loss of male control, with one social media portrait showing fully veiled women wriggling underneath a barbed wire fence and emerging scantily clad on the other side. [ PLEASE SEE ADS IN MY BLOGS [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com]