The history of women’s suffrage has been a long and arduous one marked by ups and downs, moments of accomplishment and lows of bitter disappointment. Thankfully, today, for almost all women around the world the right to vote is no longer a gender issue. When one discusses gender parity or equality today, other issues tend to crop up such as equal pay, equal opportunity and positive discrimination. Although much has yet to be achieved, by and large women have made giant strides.

Yet around the world there remain places where a woman’s right to vote remains qualified. For example, in places such as Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, a woman’s right to vote is still subject to restrictions and limitations. Yet nowhere is women’s suffrage so non-existent as in Saudi Arabia. This rich and powerful nation remains practically the last bastion of resistance that continues to deny women the right to vote.

Things are apparently about to change, albeit excruciatingly slowly. Last month, 86-year-old King Abdullah, who has reigned since 2005, granted women the right to vote and stand for election; however they will not be able to do so until 2015. This is a historic first in a society that remains conservative to the extreme especially where women are concerned. Women in Saudi Arabia remain subject to incredible severe restrictions in education, legal and financial matters. The first seeds of female enfranchisement could herald a sea change of reform that could see Saudi women enjoying some form of freedoms unimagined until today.

Women’s rights in Saudi Arabia remain a delicate and complex issue. Often defined by religion and tribal customs, women have always been subject to restrictions not only of expression but also of dress code, public behaviour and even mobility. Until this day it is forbidden for a woman to leave the house on her own unaccompanied by a relative or specific guardian (mahram). Women require permission for practically every public activity. Moreover, women are not allowed to drive and are subject to severe sanctions if caught doing so. Only recently, a Saudi woman, Sheima Jastaniah, was sentenced to 10 lashes for defying a ban on women driving. Eventually, the decision was magnanimously overturned.

Clearly there is a long road ahead for any form of female emancipation in this country. The situation is an explosive mix of culture and religion and, while there are signs of active willingness for some change, conservatives who have the upper hand remain adamant to preserve the culture’s traditional gender roles.

Some reforms have already been enacted, such as the setting up of the country’s first co-educational university (it is forbidden to have schools with mixed sexes and segregation remains the order of the day). Furthermore, the nation now has its first female Cabinet minister in the form of deputy minister for education and a law on domestic violence has been enacted. These are all baby steps in a long process and it will take Saudi women many years to achieve any form of equality comparable to other places around the world.

There is a lot of scepticism especially among outsiders that any meaningful change is going to happen very soon. On the one hand it appears that there is much resistance in Saudi Arabia itself, which remains a strictly patriarchal society. Surveys recently carried out show clearly that there is aversion to change (at least among those interviewed.) Any meaningful change must come from within whether one likes it or not, despite Western world critics remaining adamant that women in Saudi Arabia remain subject to mediaeval codes of conduct akin only to apartheid or slavery.

Maybe this may sound exaggerated but it is obvious that women in Saudi Arabia are subject to practices that are severely restrictive and hence enjoy only very limited, if any, rights. Makes you wonder and appreciate more the huge achievements secured by women in the rest of the world!

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