Saudi woman’s case against father stirs ‘guardianship’ debate
[JOURNALDUCAMEROUN] A Saudi court has ruled in favour of a woman who challenged her father’s decision to not let her have a passport, reports said Thursday, stirring an online debate on the contentious male guardianship system.
The conservative kingdom requires women to seek permission from male "guardians" ‐ their fathers, husbands or other male relatives ‐ to travel, get married and do other tasks.
In a rare case, an unnamed 24-year-old woman in western Jeddah city sought to disown her father as her guardian after he refused to let her seek a passport to study abroad, local media including the pro-government Okaz newspaper reported.
A civil court this week ordered the father to obtain a passport for the woman.
The newspaper also said the woman, a university student, had been living with her mother for 10 years and had not seen her father for six years.
Posted by: Fred 2018-09-21 |