Restrictions in Saudi Arabia for women

Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, which means all laws must be appointed by King Abdullah. Lawmakers must be men 30 years of age or over, but now women are going to be allowed in the consultative assembly. Even though women are going to be allowed in the consultative assembly, they are still not allowed to drive. In July of 2011, a women got sentenced to 10 lashes by whip just for driving!

In Saudi Arabia, forced marriage is banned, however,  females are not involved in making decisions surrounding their own marriages. The Marriage Contract is officially between the husband-to-be and the father of the bride.In my opinion, I think that this rule is pointless, because there is no point of making a rule that banns forced marriage, if the female in the household  can not choose who she marries and when she marries.

As well, Saudi Arabian women live more of a virtual life than a real life. People  are involved in on-line romances with people they have never met in real life ... and many use Facebook for other things, like talking about human rights and women's rights. They can protest on Facebook about it.

Women rights starting to get better

Finally, King Abdullah  is dealing with women in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has dismissed the hard-line chief of the country’s religious morality police, replacing him with a more liberal cleric who supports women’s rights, named Sheik Abdulatif al-Sheikh. He publicly argued that Islamic law neither bans the mixing of men and women nor excludes women from doing any job in Saudi society. But is this true?  

Some of these moves have provided benefits and greater freedoms for women, although women still do not have the right to drive and are subject to male guardianship. Many of the reforms reflect his desire to promote a more tolerant interpretation of Islam than that mandated by the ultra-conservative Wahhabi version previously enforced by the morality police. Last September, King Abdullah granted women the right to vote in local elections and to serve as members of the country’s top advisory board. A few weeks ago, a royal decree took effect banning men from selling women’s goods, such as lingerie, opening such jobs to women. A similar decree concerning cosmetics shops is due to take effect in July. I think that there is definitely progress happening. What do you think?