Efforts by some Saudi women to seek a decree abolishing male guardianship laws have sparked a counter-campaign: Many women want the system to remain the same. Recently a campaign called “My Guardian Knows the Best for Me” was initiated in direct response to an anti-guardianship movement. I have mixed feelings about both movements, but I must say the guardianship supporters have me more worried. There certainly must be some form of guardianship because there is a basis for it in Islam, but the system currently in place is seriously flawed. It's not that the basis for guardianship is flawed, but that the authority has abdicated its responsibility to see that its laws are enforced in a fair and equitable manner. It has ceased being a religious issue followed by male family members to ensure the protection of the women in their family and more about patriarchal control. Many families treat their wives, daughters and sisters with great respect and don't follow their every move. Permission to travel or to conduct business is often granted carte blanche. These families understand and appreciate the independence of female family members. But for every family that follows the guardianship rules as intended, there is another family that wields the law like a club. It's not a system ripe for abuse. It's already a system abused with regularity. Guardianship opponents are waging a losing battle if they are naïve enough to believe that Saudi authorities will abolish the law. Despite outcries from human rights activists the reality is that there is little incentive for the government to consider anything other than keep the status quo. But more worrisome is the women's pro-guardianship camp that is perfectly happy with men to control their lives. That's fine for them. They undoubtedly live in households of unquestioned male authority and are pleased with the arrangement. But what about the women abused by the guardian system? It was reported recently that a Saudi woman protested that her father rejected several potential husbands because they did not belong to the family's tribe. The father confined her to the house as punishment and denied her outside employment. He even sent her to a mental health institution when she continued her protests against his treatment of her. She sued her father in court, but found herself at the wrong end of a tongue-lashing from the judge who said she did not respect her father. She now lives in a women's shelter. If men followed the spirit of guardianship as it's outlined in the Qur'an and recognized at the same time there is no place for tribal customs within the system, then a happy solution can be found. But if courts fail to implement checks and balances to punish guardianship abusers and to protect the victims, then the laws are pointless. Tribal customs should not supplant Shariah. Yet, to listen to the pro-guardianship camp, Saudi customs and traditions should indeed be a central part of the system. In effect, they are placing customs and traditions above Islam. By waging a campaign that fully supports existing guardianship rules dooms thousands of Saudi women to being housebound servants to male family members. A campaign to encourage guardianship, but that also demands codified laws to protect the abused, makes more sense. Such a system respects an independent woman's right to move about, attend university and marry whomever she pleases. It allows the family to determine a comfort level, but also imposes consequences on guardians who manipulate the laws to their own advantage. The argument that women are not competent to handle their own affairs is not valid. More Saudi women than men attend universities in Saudi Arabia and abroad. Most of the money held in banks belongs to women. How guardianship laws are followed must be a joint decision involving the family. But Saudi judges also need to summon the courage to cast aside customs and traditions when faced with abuse cases and make the right decision to protect victims of those who abuse the spirit of the law. – SG The writer can be reached at: [email protected] and her blog is: www.saudiwriter.blogspot.com __
