Gee, I do wonder what this might have to do with Islam…

One of the biggest ways Islam — the religion, not the “cultural interpretation” — controls women is by limiting and monitoring their movements. They are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, an extreme expression of this control. But they are also not allowed to travel alone.

This is because of the Islamic rule of the “mahram” – a male “guardian” that all women have, regardless of age, who acts in their stead in public life and is supposed to accompany a woman on long journeys (such as in travel abroad). This is an Islamic rule. Need I put it more clearly? It’s an Islamic rule.

Some have argued that this rule should be “updated” now that travel is no longer an endeavor fraught with dangers. We’re not riding around on camels through the desert. But that’s the fundamental problem with religion – it’s not that easy to “update” it. One wonders, if we have common sense to guide us, why we needed religion in the first place, but that’s not something religious idiots would get.

Anyway, so Saudi Arabia doesn’t allow women to travel alone, or at least without the permission of their male “guardian.” That is usually a father, if the woman is single, or a husband if she’s married, or a brother or a son if father or husband are dead.

Even if the mahram is younger than she is, she is not allowed to be independent of him. In simpler words, she’s chattel. She is never an adult citizen.

The Arab News, Saudi Arabia’s first English language daily and the first Saudi newspaper to go online, reports on this issue, because they have decided to “update” their travel rules for women. But they haven’t really “updated” anything – they’re simply rendering an antiquated rule electronic.

The Kingdom’s Passport Department will soon post an online document that will allow women to travel alone. The document will have to be filled out and cleared by the women’s “mahram” (her guardian under Saudi law). The presentation of this document at the point of embarkation will be enough for women to travel alone.

…

The woman’s mahram will remain the one in authority to issue this online clearance. All the mahram has to do is use the secret code number given to him as a subscriber by the Passport Department to carry out online services, and provide the clearance on the e-document with that number. The woman then has to print the approval and take it with her to the airport before traveling.

They go on to elaborate on the existing law:

Under existing law, in order to travel alone whether for medical treatment, education or leisure, a Saudi woman —whatever her age — needs to present an approval document from her guardian that must be issued months in advance by the Passport Department. …

Despite the fact that the law permits “older women” to travel on their own, Fowziah, 41, a high school principal, brings her husband to the airport each time to give her permission verbally to leave. She said that her husband was not willing to give her a valid paper for one year that would allow her to travel alone. The law does not specify at what age a woman becomes “older.”

Two sisters Najla’a and Jihan, in their late 20s, related their experience when they went to London for a short course. “My father was out of town and the airport staff refused to accept our 22-year-old brother as guardian who could give us permission to travel,” said Najla’a, who works in the media. “The airport staff insisted that my father go to the nearest police station and send a fax to the airport giving his approval!” she said.

All emphases are mine.

There’s more. Read the entire article here.

[Thanks to APG for bringing this to my attention.]

Companion piece: Why Honor Killings Are A Religious Issue