SAUDI ARABIA’S MISS UNIVERSE DEBUT: HAVE WOMEN’S LIVES CHANGED FOR THE BETTER IN THE KINGDOM?

In a historic first, Saudi Arabia is poised to take part in the Miss Universe pageant this year. The announcement was made by beauty pageant veteran Rumy Alqahtani on her Instagram two days back.

She is the kingdom’s first candidate for the global competition. Dressed in a strapless sequined gown, the model shared her pictures and wrote in a post in Arabic, "I am honoured to participate in the Miss Universe 2024 competition. This is the debut of Saudi Arabia in the Miss Universe competition”.

The Islamic kingdom’s maiden participation in the beauty contest is another example of how the conservative country is opening up to the world. Saudi Arabia has undergone rapid transformation under its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, popularly known as MBS.

The Miss Universe participation has also brought the focus back to how women’s rights have seen a major shift in recent years in the Muslim country.

Let’s take a closer look.

The positive reforms for women in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has tweaked its repressive laws in recent years. It allowed women to drive in June 2018. Since then, several women have taken the wheel, some even becoming mechanics and taxi drivers.

Women can now obtain their own passports, travel outside the country and live independently without the permission of a male guardian, or “wali”.

In 2018, Saudi Crown Prince bin Salman relaxed the dress code for women, removing the mandate to wear the abaya – a long, loose garment that usually has a black headscarf or niqab – in public.

However, women are still required to dress “decently”. As per The Week magazine, wearing heavy make-up is also not considered appropriate.

The 2019 reforms permit women to register as a “head of household”, meaning they can legally act on behalf of their children. Women in Saudi Arabia can also register for marriage, divorce and birth of their children.

Saudi Arabia has removed the discriminatory practice of firing women from their workplace for pregnancy.

Women can take a pilgrimage to Mecca without a male guardian but only in a group. While the kingdom has eased rules on gender segregation, the implementation has been uneven.

In 2019, the kingdom appointed its first female ambassador to the United States – Princess Reema bint Bandar. Last May, Saudi astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi became the first Arab woman in space when she worked as a mission specialist on the Axiom Mission 2 spaceflight to the International Space Station.

Still not equal to men

Despite all the recent social reforms, women’s status is still far from equal to men in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia was ranked 131 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2023.

Saudi Arabia’s Personal Status Law (PSL), which bolsters the male guardianship system, passed in March 2022 is a classic example of the differential treatment that the country subjects its women to.

As per the legislation, women need a male guardian’s permission to marry and, after marriage, are expected to “obey” their husbands.

While the legal age for marriage has been fixed at 18, the law allows courts to permit marriages of girls and boys under 18 in some cases.

Saudi law does not criminalise marital rape. Men can initiate divorce by merely informing their wives, but women need their husband’s consent for a khula’ (separation). Women also have to repay their mahr (dowry) in such cases, noted the human rights organisation Amnesty International.

In case of separation, women get custody of the child automatically but the father remains the child’s legal guardian and can make important decisions for the kid.

Saudi laws also fail to protect women from domestic violence and sexual abuse in marriage. Same-sex relationships remain banned.

Abortion is allowed in Saudi Arabia only in the event of a threat to the mother’s physical or mental health.

The kingdom has continued its oppression of women’s rights activists. Any criticism is met with harsh punishments, including jail terms.

Women’s rights activists who call for the end of the male guardianship system have faced imprisonment, travel bans and curbs on their freedom of expression, noted Amnesty.

“Despite recent reforms, women in Saudi Arabia still live under an inherently discriminatory system,” Dana Ahmed, a Middle East researcher for Amnesty International, told The Media Line last year.

How Saudi Arabia is changing

The social reforms are a part of MBS’ Saudi Vision 2030 Project under which the kingdom aims to diversify its economy, reducing its reliance on oil. The country, which was relatively close to the world for years, has been making active attempts to reverse that.

Saudi’s various transformations align with this vision to attract foreign companies and tourists.

Riyadh is investing in technology and innovation, such as the project NEOM which entails the creation of smart cities to offer a “new future” to urban life.

Under Vision 2030, the kingdom plans to develop local industries and logistics hubs, along with generating hundreds of thousands of jobs for Saudi nationals, reported Reuters. 

Saudi Arabia is also banking on tourism to modernise its economy. The kingdom has tried to lure visitors from across the world in recent years by offering tourist visas and holding cruises on the coast.

This January, Saudi Arabia opened its first liquor store in 70 years in the capital Riyadh for non-Muslim diplomats. Drinking alcohol is prohibited in Islam and Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries that still have a liquor ban.

By entering the Miss Universe pageant for the first time, Saudi Arabia is taking another step towards change. However, critics question the relevancy of such beauty contests in today’s age. Opinions remain divided. While some object to these beauty contests for sexually objectifying women, others argue they celebrate the “strength and beauty” of women’s bodies.

Amidst all the reforms, one question that arises is – no matter the “progress” in Saudi Arabia, how much change have women actually seen in their everyday lives?

With inputs from agencies

2024-03-27T10:15:04Z dg43tfdfdgfd