Saudi Arabia is to allow divorced women and widows to manage family affairs without approval from a man or a court order, in a major step towards lifting some of the legal powers men hold over female relatives.
Under the late King Abdullah, the autocratic state carried out some reforms to give women more rights, but these remain severely restricted. Efforts to emancipate women have been held back by a powerful clergy and an ultra-conservative society.
The Al Riyadh newspaper reported on Wednesday that the interior ministry would issue family identity cards not only to men, but also to divorcees and widows, granting them powers that will include accessing records, registering children for schools and authorising medical procedures.
The newspaper did not give a date for the move.
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