page_title: Women's rights in Saudi Arabia
section_title: Change
hierarchical_section_title: Women's rights in Saudi Arabia / Change
caption_attribution_description: WikiWomen support photo for LoujainAlHathloul #FreeLoujain
context_page_description: During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, women's rights in Saudi Arabia have been severely limited in comparison to the rights of women in many of its neighboring countries due to the strict interpretation and application of sharia law. The World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Saudi Arabia 141 out of 144 countries for gender parity, down from 134 out of 145 in 2015. The United Nations Economic and Social Council elected Saudi Arabia to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women for 2018–2022, in a move that was widely criticised by the international community. Women in Saudi Arabia constituted 13% of the country's native workforce as of 2015. In 2019, 34.4% of the native workforce of Saudi Arabia were women.
  Among the factors that define rights for women in Saudi Arabia are government laws, the Hanbali and Wahhabi schools of Sunni Islam, and traditional customs of the Arabian Peninsula. Women campaigned for their rights with the women to drive movement and the anti male-guardianship campaign, which resulted in improvements to their status during the second decade of the twenty-first century.
context_section_description: Trends in the enforcement of Islamic code have influenced women's rights in Saudi Arabia. The Iranian Revolution in 1979 and 11 September attacks in 2001 had significant influence on Saudi cultural history and women's rights.
  In 1979, the Islamic Revolution in Iran led to a resurgence of fundamentalism in many parts of the Islamic world. Fundamentalists sought to repel Westernization, and governments sought to defend themselves against revolution. In Saudi Arabia, fundamentalists occupied the Grand Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) and demanded a more conservative Islamic state, including "an end of education of women." The government responded with stricter interpretations and enforcement of Islamic laws. Newspapers were discouraged from publishing images of women; the Interior Ministry discouraged women from employment, including expatriates. Scholarships for women to study abroad were declined. Wearing the abaya in public became mandatory.
  In contrast, the 11 September 2001 attacks against the United States precipitated a reaction against ultra-conservative Islamic sentiment; fifteen of the nineteen hijackers in the September 11 attacks came from Saudi Arabia. Since then, the mutaween have become less active, and reformists have been appointed to key government posts. The government says it has withdrawn support from schools deemed extremist, and moderated school textbooks.
  The government under King Abdullah was regarded as moderately progressive. It opened the country's first co-educational university, appointed the first female cabinet member, and prohibited domestic violence. Gender segregation was relaxed, but remained the norm. Critics described the reform as far too slow, and often more symbolic than substantive. Conservative clerics have successfully rebuffed attempts to outlaw child marriage. Women were not allowed to vote in the country's first municipal elections, although Abdullah supported a woman's right to drive and vote. The few female government officials have had minimal power. Norah Al-Faiz, the first female cabinet member, will not appear without her veil, appear on television without permission, or talk to male colleagues except by videoconferencing. She opposes girls' school sports as premature.
  The government has made international commitments to women's rights. It ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, with the proviso that the convention could not override Islamic law. However, government officials told the United Nations that there is no contradiction with Islam. The degree of compliance between government commitments and practice is disputed. A 2009 report by the UN questioned whether any international law ratified by the government has ever been applied inside Saudi Arabia.
  Some of the female advisors appointed around 2009–2010 to parliament (shurah) stated that slow reform is effective. According to Dr. Nora Alyousif, "The Saudi leadership is working hard on reform and supporting women ... Seventy years ago we were completely isolated from the world. The changes which are taking place are unmistakable, and we have finally started opening up." Dr. Maha Almuneef said, "There are small steps now. There are giant steps coming. But most Saudis have been taught the traditional ways. You can't just change the social order all at once."
  Local and international women's groups have pushed Saudi governments for reform, taking advantage of the fact that some rulers are eager to project a more progressive image to the West. The presence of powerful businesswomen—still a rare breed—in some of these groups helped to increase women's representation in Saudi Arabian government and society.
  Lubna Olayan, the CEO of Olayan Financing Company, is a well-known advocate for women's rights. She was the first woman to address a mixed-gender business audience in Saudi Arabia, speaking at the Jeddah Economic Forum in 2004. She used the occasion to advocate for economic equality:
  My vision is of a country with a prosperous and diversified economy in which any Saudi citizen, irr
caption: Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was arrested in May 2018
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