Time to change Saudi guardianship laws, says Prince Mohammed

There is a need to act on guardianship customs for women in Saudi Arabia, and the country needs to treat this in a way that “doesn’t harm families and doesn’t harm the culture,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with US news magazine The Atlantic.

He added that opinions are divided on the subject as some families in Saudi Arabia prefer to hold on to the guardianship customs.

“Before 1979 there were societal guardianship customs, but no guardianship laws in Saudi Arabia. It doesn’t go back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad,” he said. “In the 1960s women didn’t travel with male guardians. But it happens now, and we want to move on it.”

Prince Mohammed said the Saudi government promotes equality of genders and has ensured equal pay for men and women in government jobs, with similar regulations going into the private sector.

Crown Prince noted that the Kingdom also allows complete freedom to do business and backs freedom of speech.

“We would like to encourage freedom of speech as much as we can, so long as we don’t give opportunity to extremism,” Prince Mohammed said. “We can improve women’s rights, improve the economy. There is tension here, but we should do it.”

The 32 year-old Crown Prince, who is a millennial himself, also voiced support for youth, noting that some of the best innovations have come from the younger generation.

“Apple is a good example. Apple was created by Steve Jobs, who was in his early 20s when he started inventing,” he said. “Social media, Facebook, created by guy who is still young.”

“I believe that my generation can add a lot of things,” he added.

Commenting on the Middle East peace process, the Prince said: “I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.”

The Crown Prince in recent months has received heavy criticism in the past from mainstream Western media, and he briefly addressed this in the past.

In an earlier interview with CBS, Prince Mohammed, when questioned about his personal expenses, said he prefers to keep his personal life private.

“My personal life is something I’d like to keep to myself and I don’t try to draw attention to it. … As far as my private expenses, I’m a rich person and not a poor person. I’m not Gandhi or Mandela,” he told CBS.

The Crown Prince over the past week has been on a busy trip to the US, in which he met with Michael Bloomberg, US President Donald Trump, and several other politicians and business leaders. His trip included stopovers in New York, Boston, and California.