UPR Sexual Rights Database

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 21) JS3 and HRW noted that KSA failed to demonstrate any progress on abolishing the male guardianship system and recommended its elimination.

Para 61) JS4, JS1, ECLJ and HRW noted that although recommendations 17, 18, 19 and 20 had been accepted during the 2009 UPR, little has been done to genuinely implement them.

National Report:
Para 19) As to the matter of the Kingdom's accession to the ICCPR and the ICESCR, it remains under constant consideration; recommendations have been made to the regulatory (legislative) authority and referred to the Human Rights Commission, which formed a committee of sharia, legal and other experts in the areas of the two Covenants, pursuant to Commission Board Decision No. 1/116 of 18 July 2012. The committee meets periodically at the seat of the Human Rights Commission.

Supreme Order no. 33322 (18 April 2017):
Para 21) The Order allows women to access all government services and conclude their business without being required to obtain the approval of another person. It further supports the launch by the Human Rights Commission of educational programmes on the international conventions to which the Kingdom has acceded, as part of a comprehensive women’s rights awareness plan.

UN Compilation:
Para 40) CEDAW remained concerned about the use of sharia law to explain the lack of progress on family law reform and the continued application of discriminatory legal provisions relating to personal status, particularly the requirement for a woman to obtain her guardian’s permission to marry and the limited grounds available to women to seek divorce. It was also concerned at the persistent discrimination against women and girls in inheritance law, custody matters, marriage and divorce.
Para 51) ... In the light of the large number of reported domestic violence incidents, the Committee against Torture was concerned about allegations that the male guardianship system (mehrem) deterred and often prevented victims from reporting such cases.
Para 53) [CEDAW] was concerned about the persistence of the male guardianship system, despite measures taken to limit its scope.
Para 56) The Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty noted that challenges with regard to the human rights of women were heavier on women living in poverty, as many employers still insisted on obtaining the permission of male guardians before women could work.
Para 52) CRC expressed deep concern that, despite repeated recommendations of international human rights mechanisms, Saudi Arabia still did not recognize girls as full subjects of rights, and severely discriminated against them in law and in practice.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 31) Musawah noted that only men may divorce unilaterally …
Para 32) JS8 noted that workers are denied an array of fundamental rights. The few rights that do exist are not meaningfully protected. This is clear in the continued, widespread and severe discrimination, both through law and in practice, against women, …
Para 34) AI, Musawah and JS6 observed that women and girls face discrimination in law including in the Civil Status Code, Labour Code and Nationality Act, and in practice. They noted that Saudi Arabia made some progress in advancing women’s rights. Despite these ostensibly positive developments, but they failed to implement the eight accepted UPR recommendations pertaining to the system of male guardianship over women. Women face numerous restrictions on their daily actions throughout Saudi society. The government has recently taken steps towards easing guardianship restrictions, but reforms are limited, and provide no penalties for offences. The system is not only set in law, but is a set of regulations that act as de facto law.
Para 35) HRW noted that Saudi Arabia committed in its previous UPR to implementing the Protection from Abuse Regulation that detail enforcement and redress mechanisms for women and children facing domestic violence.
Para 36) Musawah noted that Muslim men could marry up to four wives at one time with few restrictions.
Para 37) Musawah reported that women do not enjoy equal rights to custody and guardianship of their children as the father has priority.
Para 38) AI, Musawah, JS3, and JS6 observed that Saudi Arabian women with foreign spouses, unlike their male counterparts, cannot pass on their nationality to their children or spouses.
Para 46) AI, HRW, Musawah, JS3 and JS6 noted that Saudi Arabia still does not allow women to transmit nationality to their children on an equal basis with men.