Saudi women can now live on their own without male guardian approval

RIYADH – Saudi Arabia has officially allowed adult women to live independently in a house without permission from father or any other male guardian, the kingdom’s media reported on Friday. 

According to a report in the Makkah newspaper, Saudi legal authorities removed paragraph (b) from Article 169 of the "Law of Procedure before Sharia Courts" which stated that an adult single, divorced, or widowed woman would be handed over to her male guardian.

It was replaced with a new legal text stipulating that “An adult woman has the right to choose where to live. A woman’s guardian can report her only if he has evidence proving she committed a crime.”

The text also states “If a woman is sentenced to a jail term, she will not be handed over to her guardian after completing her term.”

The Kingdom recently introduced a legal amendment allowing an adult and rational woman to live by herself in a separate house without permission from her father or male guardianship.