Saudi Arabian Women Finally Win the Right to Vote

While good news can sometimes be hard to find in troubled times, the news that Saudi Arabian women will finally be able to vote is certainly a welcome report. Saudi King Abdullah made the announcement today, and in a country where women have been oppressed for generations, this is a major milestone achievement.

Abdullah said he made the decision after consulting the nation's top religious clerics, whose advice has great weight in the way the kingdom is ruled. This is the by far the biggest change since Abdullah became the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia back in 1995 when King Fahd was hospitalized with a long term illness. He officially took the throne in August 2005 after King Fahd's death.

In a nation where women have not been allowed to drive and have been treated like second-class citizens, and in some cases abused, this news is a positive world-changing event. In Saudi Arabia, women must ask permission from men to be able to work, go to school, travel, marry, and even to go to the doctor.

Women have not been treated as human beings in Saudi Arabia, and many have been treated worse than a family dog in far too many cases.

Farida Deif, a women's rights researcher for the Middle East at Human Rights Watch, stated just a few short years ago, "The Saudi government sacrifices basic human rights to maintain male control over women. Saudi women won't make any progress until the government ends the abuses that stem from these misguided policies."

This isn't just a little step in that progress, this is a giant leap toward making the desperately needed change in the lives of Saudi women.

King Abdullah finally admitted that women in his country are capable of making decisions and of rational thinking. Saudi Arabia had pledged back in 2009 to the United Nations that they would dismantle the system requiring male guardianship over women, but until now, there had been little to show they were trying to fulfill that promise.

Activists have been campaigning for 20 years on both the guardianship and voting issues, as well as the ban on women drivers. In June, some Saudi women took to the road in protest of the driving ban, and a Facebook page called "Women2Drive" was put in place to promote their efforts. It states that the protest will continue until a royal decree reverses the ban.

The driving protest was said to be more about women's freedom than the actual transportation aspect, and though the ban on women driving has not been overturned, it could follow soon.

In a world where all human beings should be treated equal, the Saudi women's right to vote is a very welcoming step toward that goal.