Empowerment of women in Saudi Arabia is flourishing

In an unprecedented scene in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for the first time, female soldiers participated in a military parade, celebrating the 92nd anniversary of the national day, as has been shown in video footage and circulated on social media.

Under the leadership of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi women saw unprecedented rulings empowering them in a number of the Kingdom’s vital institutions in several fields, the latest of which are in the security forces, human rights, and space.

Last year, King Salman appointed the first woman in the Saudi Royal Guard and then allowed women to participate in the security forces tasked with securing pilgrims during Umrah and Hajj.

Saudi female soldiers can also work at the General Department of Criminal Evidence and its branches, civil defense, border guards, prison administration, drug control, as well as the National Center for Security Operations, CNN reported.

1st Human Rights chief

On Thursday, Saudi King Salman issued a royal order appointing the first Saudi woman as the head of the Human Rights Commission, the Saudi news agency SPA reported.

The decree stipulated that Dr. Hala bint Mazyad bin Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri was appointed as the head of the Human Rights Commission with the rank of minister. She had previously assumed the position of the Secretary General of the Family Affairs Council at the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

Last July, Al-Shehana bint Saleh bin Abdullah Al-Azzaz was appointed as Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Ministers at an excellent rank, thus becoming the first Saudi woman to occupy that high position in the Kingdom. Moreover, Princess Haifa bint Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid Al Saud was appointed as Deputy Minister of Tourism at an excellent rank.

1st female astronaut

Coincidently, the Saudi Space Commission announced that the Kingdom would send the first Saudi woman into space in 2023. “The Saudi Astronaut Program, which is an integral part of the Kingdom’s ambitious Vision 2030, will send Saudi astronauts into space to help better serve humanity. One of the astronauts will be a Saudi woman, whose mission to space will represent a historical first for the Kingdom,” the Commission said in a statement on Thursday.

1st train captain

Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics Services Saleh Al Jasser revealed that Saudi women can apply for new jobs, announcing that, for the first time, the train of the Two Holy Mosques would be driven by female captains in the coming few months, Al Arabyia reported on September 6.

In August last year,  the first two women were appointed as assistants to the General President for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques.

The empowerment of women began in 2015 in the Kingdom, where restrictions on women had been practiced by the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice for more than seven decades until its power was reduced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s royal reforms in April 2016.

Women were given the right to vote and participate in the municipal elections for the first time in December 2015, when 21 women won seats. Saudi women have also been given the right to drive cars since June 24, 2018, as per a decree that was issued in September 2017.

“I am not only talking about women's [rights to] driving, I am talking about offering them the opportunity to comprehensively lead the development in their country,” said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a speech at a meeting for the Shura Council in November 2020.