A recent decision by a Saudi court in favour of a woman who challenged her father's decision to not let her have a passport has stirred an online debate.
In Saudi Arabia, women are required to seek permission from their husbands, fathers or other male relatives to travel, get married and do other tasks, like getting a passport.
In this case, the woman, a 24-year-old, asked the court to remove her father's role as guardian after he refused to take the necessary steps to obtain a passport for her. She had tried to disown her father in the court. She had wanted to study abroad, a local newspaper reported.
The court ordered the father to obtain a passport for the woman. It is to be noted that the woman had not met her father for the last six years and was living with her mother for 10 years.
Saudi Arabia and its ruling dynasty has been trying to implement social reforms and had even taken a historical decision to let the women of the country drive. Women were allowed to attend soccer games and take on jobs that were once out of their reach due to strict gender roles.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 reform plan for a post-oil era seeks to elevate women to nearly one-third of the workforce by the end of the next decade, up from about 22 percent now.
But the kingdom also faces longstanding criticism over the male guardianship system.
Long a symbol of repression against women, the system allows men to exercise arbitrary authority to make decisions on behalf of their female relatives.
