Saudi women can now live on their own without requiring the consent of their father or male guardian after a new legal amendment by the Kingdom.
According to the report, Saudi legal authorities removed paragraph (b) from Article 169 of the “Law of Procedure before Sharia Courts” which stated that an adult single, divorced, or widowed woman would be handed over to her male guardian.
Instead, it was replaced with an amendment that states: “An adult woman has the right to choose where to live. A woman’s guardian can report her only if he has evidence proving she committed a crime.”
It also said, “If a woman is sentenced to a jail term, she will not be handed over to her guardian after completing her term.”
“Families can no longer file lawsuits against their daughters who choose to live alone,” lawyer Naif Al Mansi said while speaking to the Makkah Newspaper. He added that the courts would not accept cases of this nature anymore.
