Mariam Nihal

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Many women living in the Kingdom who spoke to Saudi Gazette said they felt traveling laws should be flexible enough to take account of emergencies and cases of a male guardian’s absence.



Saudi law dictates that women cannot travel without their male guardian’s (mahram’s) permission and in some cases can only travel with them. Saudi and foreign women living in the Kingdom who wish to travel are often tied down by the “mahram” rule.



Aisha Mahmoud, a 48-year-old Pakistani widow and a mother of four living in Jeddah, said, “Laws are just walls put up for women. Anytime I want to go back to my country I have to rely on my son who is only 21 years old and is my official guardian to give me permission to travel. It is disturbing and sometimes he makes it look like a favor. I am a woman and a homemaker who looks after these children. I feel handicapped and ashamed to ask him for permission to be honest. I should have the right to decide when I want to leave.”



Other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have varied policies for Saudi and non-Saudi women traveling within the region.

Saudi women can travel within the GCC without visa formalities but still need their mahram’s permission to travel. However, laws that dictate that women cannot travel without a visa, their mahram’s permission and in most cases can only travel with their mahram restrict non-Saudi women even further.



Women living in the Kingdom have expressed dismay over the emphasis placed on their travel. Many women feel the mahram law gives advantage to men who can abuse the power granted to them to control their daily lives.



“I feel really sad for women living in the Kingdom who suffer due to these rigorous laws and cannot travel because their mahram is not able to accommodate their travel plans,” said Shania Mohammed, a 28-year-old Saudi real estate agent living in Jeddah.



She said fathers, brothers and husbands usually exploit women using the law. “My father till date decides if I can travel. I usually have important work abroad for real estate and he says I am unfit to travel ‘so frequently’ as a woman. Now, in any other situation I could take my passport and leave but there is no point in fighting. It’s a battle to get him to sign a paper. As an adult it is very humiliating to be treated as a helpless handicap. I hope they can relax the law for women, at least for adults. I want to have the same rights as my brothers,” she added.



Farah Idrees, a 26-year-old Saudi housewife living in Jeddah, said her husband does not let her travel alone and on many occasions he is unable to travel with her. “Does that mean my husband should quit his job to accompany me? I have family matters to tend to in Qatar and he won’t let me travel. There have been times I have cried and begged him. I feel claustrophobic and trapped by the law, but he does not budge.”



Her brother Sameer Idrees, a 23-year-old student, thinks the rules are in accordance with the law of the Kingdom. “Women need to be protected. If they really want to travel, they should go with a male companion who can take care of them.”



Sarah Ali, a 27-year-old Lebanese living in Riyadh, believes the law to restrict women from traveling whenever they desire is harsh and subjective.

"If an 18-year-old boy can travel, then his mother, sister or grandmother should not have to ask, plead and beg for a man’s permission,” she said.

“My friend’s husband refused to get her exit/re-entry once and she was stuck at home for months. There was nothing she could do. She did not want to call the embassy to embarrass her husband. It is hard to keep your self-respect and balance in life living in such a predicament where your move is controlled and monitored. After all these women don’t have a help line,” she told Saudi Gazette.





Ahmad Zaki, a 34-year-old British math teacher living in Dammam, said the law should be made lenient for women in case of emergency and unavailability of their male guardians.



“One of my colleagues’ mother was sick and she wanted to travel but she couldn’t because her husband was away on a business trip. Her mother passed away and honestly at that point it really seemed unfair to stop a woman from traveling just because her mahram was not available to give her permission to do so.”



He added that he would want to empower women’s role in society and give them social independence. “As a man, I want to give the women in my house and in the world the freedom of movement. Equality and freedom is their human right.”