FILE – In this Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, file photo, a Saudi woman waits outside a polling center as she prepares to cast her ballot during the country’s municipal elections in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A new study by Human Rights Watch says Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system is the most significant impediment to realizing women’s rights in the kingdom. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia has issued new laws that grant women greater freedoms by allowing any citizen to apply for a passport and travel freely, ending a long-standing and controversial guardianship policy that had required male consent for a woman to travel or carry a passport.
The changes approved by King Salman and his Cabinet allow any person 21 and older to travel abroad without prior consent and any citizen to apply for a Saudi passport on their own.
The decrees were published early Friday in the kingdom’s official weekly gazette.
Other changes issued in the decrees allow women to register a marriage, divorce or child’s birth and to be issued official family documents.
The changes were widely celebrated by Saudis on Twitter, but also drew criticism from some conservatives. /muf