Saudi women will soon be allowed to travel without ‘mahram’

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia may ease restrictions on women’s ability to travel without a male guardian’s permission this year. Currently, women of any age and men under 21 need a guardian’s permission to travel internationally.

However, according to the Wall Street Journal, Saudi authorities this year tasked a government committee with revamping guardianship laws. A senior Saudi adviser on the condition of anonymity said the travel restrictions would be changed this year as a result of the committee’s work, saying the directive had come “from the top.”

The move is seen as part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to empower women. Earlier he has lifted a ban on women driving, suggested that women no longer need to wear traditional neck-to-toe dresses called abayas and curbed a religious police force that often harassed and even jailed women for how they dressed.