The empowerment of women has been a key focus in Saudi Arabia in recent years, and as the Kingdom continues to move towards modernizing its society and strengthening various aspects of its legal structure, it is particularly working on improving women’s rights with regards to marital affairs and on their inheritance rights.
Saudi Arabia’s commitment to improving the rights of women in this regard was reiterated this week by Human Rights Commission (HRC) President Dr. Awwad Al-Awwad, during a closed discussion session organized by the Commission titled “Inheritance And The Legitimate Rights Of Women.” Dr. Al-Awwad explained that the Commission is working on all human rights with no exception, and as part of its efforts is consulting with specialists on protecting women’s inheritance rights on the basis of Shariah rules.
“The session would shed light on the most important challenges that women face, whether they are social, cultural, organizational ones or those pertaining to enhancing awareness to obtain these rights, and would come up with recommendations that will educate society about the legal, statutory, social and human rights of women,” he was quoted as saying during the closed session in a recent article by Saudi Gazette.
In September, the subject of women’s inheritance rights was also discussed during a session by Saudi Arabia’s consultative Shura Council, with one member of the council, Iqbal Dirndari, proposing criminalinising the deprivation of women of their rightful inheritance, by putting in measures such as jail and fine penalties against offenders.
Inheritance rights have not been the only focus of Saudi Arabia when it comes to preserving women’s rights. In 2017, an ad-hoc inter-ministerial committee was set up to address the issue of underage marriage of both Saudi and non-Saudi girls living in the Kingdom. In 2018, members of the Shura Council, the nation’s consultative assembly, proposed monetary compensation to be paid to divorced women.
