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Debate for women’s rights rages on in Saudi

November 3, 2016 at 1:10 pm

Saudi Shura Council members have suggested allowing children to inherit the nationality of their mother, regardless of the child’s country of birth.

Ata Al-Subaiti, a female Shura Council member who is strongly in favour of amending the nationality law, reiterated that the law has not been amended in over 60 years. She, along with fellow Shura Council members Latifah Al-Shaalan and Haya Al-Minai, drafted the proposal.

All three women asserted that laws regarding the Saudi woman’s status must be updated in the same manner that economic and administrative laws have changed over time.

Residents who do not hold the nationality have fewer rights than Saudi citizens and thus are left in a potentially vulnerable position.

Earlier, the Shura Council rejected a proposal to revisit legislation which reverses a ban on women driving in the kingdom.