Women Empowerment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The empowerment of Saudi Arabian women is at the heart of the Kingdom’s ‘Vision 2030’. The steps of empowerment have been introduced under the Crown prince’s Vision 2030- a national plan that has been set to lead the economic and social future of the kingdom. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said there was no difference between men and women in Islam, and that half of Saudi Arabia’s population was made up of women, and that they were paid ‘equally’ to their male counterparts in the public sector.

The crown prince’s statements on women’s rights in Saudi Arabia said, “I support Saudi Arabia, and half of Saudi Arabia is women. So, I support women,” and he said, “in the Saudi government, women are paid exactly like men. We have regulations like this that are going into the private sector. We don’t want divided treatment for different people”.

Several new rules and regulations have been framed and brought out since 2018, leading to women’s empowerment since the launch of the Saudi Vision 2030.

*Some of the key changes include*:

1. Increasing women’s participation in the job market from 22 per cent to 37 per cent in 2022, and development has taken place across the country to empower women, reshaping the economic, social, and cultural landscape towards making Saudi Arabia a more inclusive country.
2. A few days ago, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced that it would send the first Saudi female astronaut to the International Space Station during the second quarter of this year.
3. The Ministry of Hajj allowed women to register for the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage without a male guardian.
4. The Kingdom gained its first female ambassador in February 2019, when a royal decree appointed Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan al-Saud as the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States with a ministerial ranking.
5. Saudi women can now climb through the ranks from soldier to officer in the Royal Saudi Air Defence, Royal Saudi Navy, Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force, and the Armed Forces Medical Services.
6. Access to sports: The Vision 2030’s ‘Quality of Life’ program empowers the Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA) to work to increase weekly participation in sports by up to 40% by 2030, introducing a more inclusive sporting environment and encouraging girls and women to take up sports, according to MENAFM.com.
7. The right to drive: At the stroke of midnight on 24 June 2018, women in Saudi Arabia were able to drive on the roads for the first time. Since then, around 2.5 million female drivers have taken to the road, which subsequently also increased car sales by 9 per cent per annum.
8. Freedom to travel: This rule was announced in August 2019 to allow women over the age of 21 to apply for a passport and travel freely without a male guardian’s authorisation.
9. The right to live alone: Since June 2021, Saudi women have been able to stay and/or live alone without the need for approval from a male guardian.
10. Equality in the workplace: Saudi Arabia has set an equal wage for all genders, preventing discrimination in terms of wage, occupation and working hours and enabling women to incorporate and practice commercial activities without obtaining prior consent from a male guardian.

 *Saudi women can now be found working in almost all sectors; from aviation, airports, hospitality, FMCG, finance, and much more*.