Saudi Arabia has announced plans to allow women to enter sports stadiums starting next year, in the latest incremental advance for women’s rights in the conservative Muslim country.
Women were allowed to enter the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh for the first time last month, for a one-off event celebrating the anniversary of the country’s founding, reports Reuters. They entered the stadium through a separate gate.
“It is the first time I have come to the stadium and I feel like more of a Saudi citizen,” 25-year-old Sultana, who did not provide her last name, told Reuters at the event. “God willing, tomorrow women will be permitted bigger and better things like driving and travel.”
Shortly after the anniversary event, the kingdom announced plans to lift its ban on female drivers, effective next June.
“I’m just trying to hold back the tears,” 26-year-old Sara Althari told HuffPost last month after the announcement. “It’s been a long time coming. ... I’m full of hope and optimism and joy and very proud today to be a Saudi woman.”
Women commemorate the anniversary of Saudi Arabia's founding at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Sept. 23, 2017. Strict rules on public segregation of the sexes have effectively barred women in Saudi Arabia from entering sports arenas. (Photo: FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images)
Under Saudi law, women still cannot mix freely with men, obtain a passport or leave the country without a male guardian’s permission. They also have to wear an abaya that covers their bodies down to their feet, among other rules.
Prince Muhammed bin Salman has recently pushed to modernize Saudi Arabia and improve its image abroad, reports HuffPost’s Akbar Shahid Ahmed.
“Saudi law doesn’t allow non-Muslims to get citizenship. Did Sophia convert to Islam?” Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, told Newsweek of the robot. “What is the religion of this Sophia and why isn’t she wearing hijab? If she applied for citizenship as a human she wouldn’t get it.”
King Abdullah grants women right to vote and run in the 2015 municipal elections. The decision is hailed as a breakthrough, but the local councils are toothless and operate in the shadow of provincial governments led by powerful members of the ruling Al Saud family. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia delivers a speech to the Saudi Shura Council, or advisory assembly, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011. (AP Photo)
The king appoints 30 women to the top advisory body, the Shura Council. The body cannot legislate and its male-dominated chamber has so far not taken up a request by three female members to discuss the issue of allowing women to drive. In this March 29, 2010 file photo, Saudi women visit the Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment Market (STTIM) fair in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In a first, Saudi Arabia sends two female athletes to the 2013 Olympics in London. But they were criticized by conservatives for performing sports in front of a mixed gender audience. Aspiring female athletes in the kingdom struggle to find access to training facilities. In this Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012 file photo, Saudi Arabia's Sarah Attar waves before competing in a women's 800-meter heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
The government rolls out a law penalizing domestic abuse, including neglect. A state-backed advertisement shows a woman in a traditional black face veil with a bruised eye peering through, encouraging society to speak out against abuse. The law does not address the guardianship system that grants male family members authority over their female relatives, and often the abuser is their guardian. Two Saudi women activists who helped a Canadian mother allegedly abused by her Saudi husband were sentenced to 10 months in jail for "inciting a woman against her husband." An advertisement released August 2013 by King Khalid Foundation represents Saudi Arabia's first campaign against domestic violence.
A law on the books since 2006 is finally implemented, allowing women to work as sales' clerks in female apparel and lingerie stores. Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric, Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, spoke out against the Labor Ministry's decision in a sermon just before the law was applied, saying it contradicts Islamic law. The kingdom's religious establishment follows a strict interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism. Fully-veiled Saudi women shop at a lingerie store in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah on January 2, 2012. From this week, only female staff will be able to sell women's lingerie in Saudi Arabia (AMER HILABI/AFP/Getty Images)
The Labor Ministry allows women to work in certain sectors without first obtaining their guardian's approval. Still, the decrees mandate that female workers not interact with men, reinforcing strict gender segregation, according to Human Rights Watch. Some private sector workplaces remain exempt from these decrees. Saudi female journalists attend a men's Asian Handball Championship match between Saudi Arabia and Qatar in Jeddah on January 31, 2012. Female journalists were recently allowed to cover sporting events despite strict segregation of the sexes outside the home that is enforced by the kingdom's powerful religious police which means that women are effectively barred from many jobs and social activities. (AMER HILABI/AFP/Getty Images)
Women are given licenses to practice law. The four women with permits will face conservative male judges who have wide discretion to remove a lawyer from a case before them. Two women walk on campus at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) on October 13, 2009, in Thuwal, 80 kilometers north of Jeddah. (Omar Salem/AFP/Getty Images)
Private schools are officially allowed to hold sports activities for girls, and physical education is required as part of the curriculum. Sports centers around the country are almost entirely for men only, female gyms are costly and public schools have yet to implement physical education for girls. Members of a Saudi female soccer team practice at a secret location in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabias official press agency says the Education Ministry has allowed private female schools to hold sports activities within the Islamic Sharia laws. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A ban on women riding bicycles and motorbikes is lifted. Females must be accompanied by a male guardian, usually a husband or son, and only ride in restricted areas. A veiled Saudi women rides a motorbike in the tourist town of Aley, east of Beirut on July 23, 2008. (JOSEPH BARRAK/AFP/Getty Images)
Official reports suggest women will be allowed to attend soccer matches in a new stadium in 2014. The women will be segregated from the men in sections for families. A Saudi fully veiled woman waves a flag with the picture of Saudi King Abdullah prior the start of Saudi Arabia match against Kuwait in the 21st Gulf Cup in Manama, on January 12, 2013. (MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)
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