In the last 10 years, the status of women in Saudi Arabia has been advanced by a number of policies and initiatives aimed at empowering them. These have been critical in creating a transformational societal change to the role of women, but they have not entirely created a shift in the situation of women. So, what is missing from Saudi Arabia's steps to develop women's rights? We are already seeing a difference in the situation of Saudi women through major decisions which have been brought about by the government. Some of the most remarkable of these have been permitting women to work as salespersons in stores and supermarkets and providing funding for young women to be educated in foreign universities, especially in the US and Europe. Arguably, these steps have created a cultural change inside the conservative society with regard to many issues, such as women working in a non-gender-segregated environment as, due to the above-mentioned law, the interaction between men and women is becoming more of a part of everyday life in the Kingdom. Apart from this, it is also believed that typical Saudi families have become more accepting of women traveling and living alone abroad as a result of thousands of Saudi women traveling to study in universities overseas. Nevertheless, issues of concern, such as a lack of mobility, unemployment, family pressure and access to justice, continue to pose a challenge to the process of female empowerment, since there has been no actual change to them, which makes the already undertaken steps less meaningful to many women and girls. In my opinion, two major obstacles obstruct the process of women's development in Saudi Arabia. Primarily, there is a lack of strategic “vision” behind ongoing government activities for empowering women. There appears to be a lack of long-term goals, which are driving the current decisions and initiatives, and it is not wholly clear where these decisions are heading. The ways in which these steps are undertaken tend to be random and are not totally prioritized as to what in reality matters most to women. This can be demonstrated by the fact that women are expected to run for municipal election this year, but they are still not permitted to drive a car, which is something women have been demanding for over two decades. However, the traditional views of the religious institutions remain the biggest challenge to the government's reforming actions. Despite the influential role held by religious clerics in shaping society's views toward women's rights and bringing women justice, their position often stands for the preservation of the status quo, and opposition to any opportunity for progress to be made on women's rights. There are many instances where this has been the case; for example, the government has been trying to set a minimum age for girls to marry, but their attempts have failed owing to the lack of agreement by religious clerics. So, how can we move quickly to advance women's rights? I would suggest that there should be an official body (a ministry or institute) to take responsibility for the process of women's empowerment, and to deal with it as a “national project”, establishing long-term strategies and evolving goals to ensure that the rights of women and girls are protected and developed. These goals must be shaped by scientific gender research and analysis with the engagement of civil societies in the process in order to reduce the burden on the government in the areas of monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of these strategies for women and girls. More importantly, extreme religious fatwas (religious edicts) regarding women, which are issued from time to time, must be subjected to comprehensive scrutiny and review in order to construct a new moderate norm that keeps pace with the present era and reflects the real Islamic values that describe women's rights as “similar to what is due from them with kindness.” The time has come to strategically think of women's rights as an “opportunity” to drive the Kingdom's national interests and development, not an “obstacle” which needs to be handled by fatwas that reduce women's dignity and humanity. This is the only way to move forward and improve women's rights. Failing that, we will find that our women's empowerment projects are achieving little as they continue to go around in fruitless circles. Najah Al-Osaimi
