Saudi army officers walk past F-15 fighter jets, GBU bombs and missiles on display at a ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of King Faisal Air Academy at King Salman Air Base in Riyadh on Jan. 25, 2017.
Photographer: Fayez Nureldine / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Fayez Nureldine / AFP / Getty Images
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Women in Saudi Arabia can now take up arms and join the military, the kingdom’s latest profession to open until female recruits.
Saudi Arabian women can be deployed as soldiers, lance corporals, corporals, sergeants and staff sergeants, according to the Saudi Arab News.
Jobs are gradually being released for Saudi women, whose increased participation in the workforce is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to transform the Arab world’s largest economy. It is now common to see Saudi women working as cashiers in malls and taking on roles previously limited to men, such as waiting tables in restaurants and brewing cappuccinos in coffee houses.
Two Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 military aircraft perform an aerial display at the Saudi Air Show at Al Thumamah Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, March 12, 2019.
The expansion of jobs and rights has come even when female activists have been the target of crackdowns against dissent.
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The plan to allow women into the military was first announced in 2019, the same year the kingdom said it would allow women to leave the country without the consent of a male relative, an important step towards it. ending a restrictive guardianship system that has been heavily criticized. at home and abroad.
That came after Saudi Arabia allowed women to drive in 2018 and ended its status as the last country in the world to ban women from getting behind the wheel, a move that Bloomberg Economics estimated at the time would be as much as $ 90 billion in economic output. can add. 2030.
Saudi women sell products from a booth in Al Yasmin shopping center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, August 6, 2017.
Tasneem Alsultan / Bloomberg
Aside from the usual weight and height criteria, female candidates for the military must have at least a high school education. Applicants married to foreigners will not be accepted, Arab News said.
Last year, the Justice Minister appointed 100 women as notaries, and in January a government official said Saudi Arabia will “soon” appoint women judges.
Until the recent change, women had limited options when looking for work. For the most part they worked as teachers or for a government agency. In 2011, a law was passed that all lingerie and cosmetics companies should only have female employees, after an intensive campaign led by women.