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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Convention) in 2000, yet maintained certain reservations, especially in regards to Article 2 stating that “In case of contradiction between any term of the Convention and the norms of Islamic law, the Kingdom is not under obligation to observe the contradictory terms of the Convention”.

Article 2 is central to the objectives and purpose of the Convention; it calls upon states to ensure that their constitutions and national legislatures embody, enable and guarantee the equal rights of women and men as citizens. We maintain that reservations under this Article are not permissible, as they act as obstacles to the full development of gender equality and women’s civil, political, economic, and human rights. According to the CEDAW Committee itself, neither traditional, religious or cultural practice, nor incompatible domestic laws and policies, can be used to justify violations of the Convention. In the same way, any reservations to Article 16 which calls on states to promote marriage as a just and equal partnership, are also incompatible with the Convention and therefore impermissible.

The UN CEDAW Committee, in its 2008 review of the Saudi Arabia’s country report on its implementation of the CEDAW Convention, urged the State party to consider the withdrawal of its reservations to the Convention. This came after assurances from the State representatives themselves that there is no contradiction in substance between the Convention and Islamic Shari’a. Given the Kingdom’s commitment to the Convention, the Committee also urged the Saudi government to implement a number of key measures to enhance the status of women and adherence to the CEDAW Convention. We highlight here the recommendations and measures that have a direct bearing on VNC’s concerns on ending gender-based discrimination and violence ‘justified’ in the name of ‘culture’ or religion.

As urged by the CEDAW Committee, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should:

• 1. Amend its legislation to confirm that international treaties have precedence over domestic laws and enact a comprehensive gender equality law and intensify its efforts to raise awareness about the Convention among the general public.
• 2. Ensure that the Convention becomes an integral part of the legal education and training of judicial officers, including judges and magistrates, lawyers and prosecutors, particularly those working in the family courts, so that a legal culture supportive of women’s equality with men and non-discrimination on the basis of sex is firmly established in the country. Enhance women’s awareness of their rights through, for example, legal literacy programs and legal assistance.
• 3. Incorporate fully into the legislation the principle of equality between women and men, as well as a definition of discrimination on the basis of sex in line with article 1 of the Convention, and extending State responsibility to acts of discrimination by public and private actors, in accordance with article 2 of the Convention, and to take the appropriate steps in order to implement the principle of formal and substantive equality.
• 4. Take immediate steps to end the practice of male guardianship over women, including by awareness-raising campaigns, and be proactive and to put into place without delay a comprehensive strategy, including clear goals and timetables, to modify or eliminate negative cultural practices and stereotypes that are harmful to and discriminate against women and to promote women’s full enjoyment of their human rights, in conformity with articles 2 (f) and 5 (a) of the Convention.
• 5. Finalize its review of the ban of women from driving, and include in its next periodic report information on the concept of male guardianship and how it affects the application of the Convention in Saudi Arabia.
• 6. Ensure that the national machinery for the advancement of women has the necessary visibility and decision-making, as well as coordination, powers to enable it effectively to fulfill its mandate in promoting gender equality, and provide in its next report a clearer and more detailed picture of the national machinery, both the central coordinating body and the sectorial units to be created, including its authority, functions, powers and resources. Taking into account that the Human Rights Commission has been tasked with the implementation of the Convention and other human rights treaties, it also recommends that the Commission be comprised of an equal number of female and malestaff and board members as well as providing full and easy access to women to claim their rights.
• 7. Raise awareness of the importance of education as a human right and as the basis for the empowerment of women, and implement measures to ensure equal access for girls and women to all levels and fields of education and ensure the retention of girls in schools.
• 8. Make every effort to improve the literacy level of girls and women through the adoption of comprehensive programs of formal and non-formal education, and through adult education and training, and provide detailed information and statistics in its next report on the education of women and girls, including those from rural areas, and non-Saudi nationals.

With regard to ending violence against women, we fully endorse the UN CEDAW
Committee’s recommendations on the following:

1. 1. Give high priority to comprehensive measures to address all forms of violence against women and girls, recognizing that violence is a form of discrimination against women and constitutes a violation of their human rights under the Convention.
2. 2. Enact, as soon as possible, legislation on violence against women, including a comprehensive law on domestic violence, to ensure that violence against women is a criminal offense, that women and girls who are victims of violence have access to immediate means of redress and that perpetrators are prosecuted and punished.
3. 3. Implement educational and awareness-raising measures aimed at law enforcement officials, the judiciary, health-care providers, social workers, community leaders and the general public, to ensure that they understand that all forms of violence against women, including violence in the home, are unacceptable, and make full use of the Committee’s general recommendation 19 in such efforts and of the in-depth study of the Secretary-General on all forms of violence against women (A/61/122 and Add.1 and Add.1/Corr.1) and his recently launched worldwide multi-year campaign to eliminate it.
4. 4. Provide full details on the situation of non-Saudi women, in particular domestic workers, in its next report and on their enjoyment of the rights established by the Convention, and grant in law and practice female domestic migrant workers, including their children, the rights provided for in the Convention and to implement measures aimed at informing them about these rights. Adopt a labor law concerning domestic workers as a priority.
5. 5. Prescribe and enforce a minimum age of marriage of 18 years for both women and men, in accordance with article 16, paragraph 2, of the Convention and the Convention on theRights of the Child, and to introduce legislative reforms to provide women with equalrights in marriage, divorce, the custody of children and inheritance, and end the practiceof polygamy, in accordance with the Committee’s general recommendation 21, onequality in marriage and family relations.

2 October 2011

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