Saudi Women Petition for Rights

Saudi women are taking a dramatic step toward pushing the kingdom’s elders to provide women with personal rights long denied to them. A petition calling for an end to the guardianship system has already amassed “thousands” of signatures. Guardianship gives men control over all aspects of a woman’s life, from work to study to travel: women cannot move around without a male chaperone. The French news agency AFP reported that one of the activists behind the campaign was rebuffed when she tried on Friday to deliver the 14,700 signature-petition to the Royal Court and was told to mail it instead. And so it was.