Saudi women use wedding contracts to assert right to drive
Wedding contracts have long been a safety net for brides in the deeply patriarchal society, used to guarantee demands that are often otherwise vulnerable to the whims of the husband or his family.
S uch legally binding contracts typically codify anything from the woman's right to have her own house, hire a maid, or to study or work. But after the kingdom last year lifted a decades-long ban on female motorists, a popular new condition in the contracts is the right to own and drive a car, according to documents and interviews with wedding clerics.
Majd, 29, who is due to marry this month in his native Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia, signed off on two demands from his 21-year-old fiancee - the right to drive and to work after marriage. "She said she (would) like to be independent," explained Majd. "I replied: 'sure, why not?"
To drive, women do not require the explicit approval of their male "guardians" - husbands, fathers and other male relatives, whose permission is needed by women to study, get married and even leave prison. But it remains unclear whether women have any legal recourse should their guardians prevent them from taking the wheel.
"Some women prefer to include the driving condition in their contract to avoid any marital conflicts", said a Riyadh wedding cleric. "It's a way to guarantee the husband will keep his promise".
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References
from Gulf News, Latest Middle East News Headlines & Live News Updates - Times of India http://bit.ly/2ZLm8Sa
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