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Saudi Arabia now allows its women to travel without consent of their men, and cannot now be discriminated against at work for their age, disability, and gender.
Saudi Arabia is one of the most conservative countries in the world. Apart from being conservative, there are harsh curbs on the women of the country. From covering up in public places to gender segregation, all of this is suffocatingly real.
Women in Saudi since a very long time have been living under the male guardianship system. This prevents them from taking their own key life decisions without the consent of a male relative. But on Friday new laws were released that loosen restrictions on women by allowing any citizen to apply for a passport and travel freely.
This new law ends a long-standing guardianship policy that gave men almost complete control over women.
Not just this, according to a report in the Saudi Gazette, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development in Saudi Arabia has decided to treat the male and female workers in the country at an equal level.
The fact the things have started to change in Saudi Arabia has shown that a revolution has begun. The country where women rights activist have been fighting for basic rights is finally moving towards a social revolution. This celebration, however, is incomplete without the courageous activists. These activists have peacefully advocated for the right of women to drive, an end to the male guardianship system, and for justice and equality.
Saudi women have achieved the freedom to drive, travel without male consent, and equal treatment at the workplace, but the activists who have been fighting for these rights are in jail. The country can truly walk the talk behind these reforms in women’s rights by ending its persecution of women’s rights defenders.
These changes truly are a clear portrayal of the long battle that the activists have been fighting.
It has been approximately more than a year since Saudi authorities jailed Loujain al-Hathloul, Iman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Yousef and a group of Saudi women activists simply for demanding equality and defending human rights in Saudi Arabia. Many of these activists who have been arrested fought for both – lifting the driving ban and the male guardianship.
These reforms are a huge revolution on their own, but if the country wants to bring changes in the conditions of women in the country then they should drop all charges against the defenders of women’s rights.
The fight in the country for women rights is very long. There are many more issues to be tackled and many more bans to be lifted.
Women still require a guardian’s permission to be released from prison. Even to leave a shelter where they have sought protection from domestic abuse or violence. Gender segregation is still there.
The recent reforms are a huge step towards equality, though the celebration of these reforms is incomplete without the women who fought for it.
I read, I write, I dream and search for the silver lining in my life. Being a student of mass communication with literature and political science I love writing about things that bother me. Follow read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
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