Makkah Some members of the public who oppose women's rights believe that Saudi female activists will never achieve positive results if they do not change the way they champion their cause. They also believe that women should wait and that they will eventually get all of their rights. These individuals who want to discourage women from claiming full equality should acquaint themselves with some important historical facts about women's rights in the Kingdom. Girls' schools opened in the Kingdom in 1959, six decades after boys' schools opened. Saudi women's demands for opening girls' schools were met with strong opposition but the schools were eventually opened. Another historical fact is women's work. In the beginning, Saudi women were only allowed to work as teachers and foreign women were not permitted to teach for fear that they would transmit their culture to students. After a long period of time, women were given more freedom to work in various fields. This happened in 1981 when a group of women made their demands known to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Women were also allowed to apply for bank loans just like men. In 1984, a group of women expressed their demands for opening research offices to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Interior and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. In 1985, women called on the authorities to allow them to learn how to use computers, which was at that time restricted to men only. In 1986, a group of female activists demanded that women be issued driving licenses. Two years later, businesswomen demanded that the condition that required them to bring a performance and payment bondsman or guarantor be cancelled. In 2000, female activists demanded that businesswomen should be involved in the decision-making process at the Kingdom's various chambers of commerce and industry. The authorities responded to these demands in a matter of a few months and granted women what they wanted. In 2005, women demanded that they be allowed to play a role on the boards of directors and as managers of companies. Their demand was met with approval. In 2011, women demanded that the condition that required women to bring male attorneys-in-fact be cancelled. A group of female activists wrote letters to the ministers and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and enclosed with them the official forms that included this condition. In 2013, the law against the abuse of women and children was issued thanks to the female Shoura Council members who pushed for it. Saudi women can today apply for their personal ID cards with their photos on them. This achievement took years to materialize. The female graduates of law schools kept demanding their right to have licenses for eight years and their demands were finally approved. Today, they can stand before a judge in a court of law and plead a case. Despite all these achievements, there is still a long way to go until women are treated as equally as men in terms of duties and penalties. These accomplishments would not have been possible without the hardworking efforts of female activists.
