Will Saudi Arabia’s push to modernize its infrastructure lead to more rights for women?

Saudi Arabia is currently facing a financial crisis that could cause their economy to collapse. They are scrambling to reform their economy and modernize their country’s infrastructure, in doing so, would this create more mobility for women’s rights? Though the winds of change are blowing and with Saudi Arabia facing economic crisis, they do not have a choice but to make drastic and sudden reformations in their economy and society.

According to freedomhouse.org, Saudi Arabia is one of the least free countries in the world in terms of civil liberties, general freedom, and political rights.

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Women in Saudi Arabia have to adhere to restrictive social codes based on an extreme interpretation of Islam. But as calls for reform increase, their lot is starting to change. Saudi Arabia can no longer afford to continue to suppress women.

Women not driving is costing Saudi families billions

It is a great inconvenience for the typical Saudi family to not have women be allowed to drive. More and more women are being allowed to work and therefore the need to transport women is going up, Some families hire drivers which is very expensive, others must take more time out of their day to drop off and pick up their spouse.

Women in higher education supersede men.

Women who are in post undergraduate degree programs have surpassed men by over 50%

With all the push for reform, what's the hold up?

In the last four years Saudi Arabia has seen vast reform in terms of women's rights, at least considering where they came from previously. However the changes are not immediate and there are several key factors holding women back from receiving the full rights they deserve.

Salafism and the politics of Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has religion as a major proponent of their political agenda. They follow a fundamentalist approach to Islam known as Salafism where Islamic Law is interpreted in a literal sense from the Qur'an and hadiths (books of scripture). With this interpretation, the views of women and their roles is very extreme.

Concept of Alquamah

One of the great misinterpretations in Islam is the concept of Alquamah. Which literally means protector/sustainer, the Quran identifies as a duty imposed on the husband to essentially take care of his wife and be the religious leader of the household. Which technically speaking also can be interpreted as having a certain level of control over the wife. While this is true, it seems to be lost in translation.

Many consider this to mean absolute authority over women.

“Many have thought that Alquamah is a form of absolute authority exercised by the husband over the wife and over others as well. Many have also thought that Alquamah even grants the husband permission to assault and beat the wife and to control her personality and her money. Ultimately, some believe that men are permitted to override women's rights and skills in managing household” (Almofadda)

Women's Right's not at the heart of the government?

Despite its regular abuse of women 'Championing women's causes brings international legitimacy' of human rights and enforcement of gender inequality embedded in its legislations (Al-Rasheed)

Gender Equality is not possible in an Authoritarian regime.

At the end of the day besides the social, political, and religious set backs women face in regard to gaining equal rights, none of this will be possible under an authoritarian regime. At the moment, women's rights activists depend on the state to sponsor their petitions for more rights. The state will only provide enough to appease the international community and keep riots at bay. If women want gender equality its going to take more than just protests to achieve this. Saudi Arabia is undergoing major economic reform that will have ripple effects into the society, in the words of Alexis Tocquville, 'the most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform”.