In recent years, Saudi Arabia has gradually 'untied' a series of restrictions on women. After being allowed to join the army, enter the ball game and be lifted travel restrictions, Saudi women will get a 'new right' - not to eat separately from men in restaurants.
Previously, Saudi Arabia required that all domestic restaurants should have separate entrances according to gender. However, Reuters reported on the 8th that the Saudi Ministry of urban and Rural Affairs announced on twitter that this provision will no longer be mandatory. However, Reuters quoted a person in charge as saying that this means that restaurant owners can still choose to retain the independent entrance previously set according to gender.
According to ABC, according to the statement issued by the Saudi Ministry of urban and rural affairs on the 8th, Saudi restaurants no longer need 'designated private space'. In this regard, the report interprets that 'private space' is' zoning ', which shows that Saudi men and women no longer need to eat separately in the restaurant.
ABC said that Saudi restaurants and cafes have 'family' areas and 'single' areas respectively. " The "family" area is set up for women who go out alone or accompanied by male relatives, while the "single" area is only for men. The report also said that many places have set up separate restaurant entrances for women, and set partition walls or rooms for the 'family' area to prevent single men from seeing women. In some small restaurants without such settings, women are not allowed to enter.
ABC described the new regulations as "the decision to abolish the apartheid of restaurants". Reuters also mentioned that in the past year, with Saudi restaurants, cafes, conference centers and concert halls no longer strictly implementing the apartheid policy, apartheid has quietly decreased.
In recent years, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed, with the support of his father king Salman, has boldly reformed Saudi society, economy and religion and introduced a series of measures to empower women. In September 2018, Saudi Arabia announced that women were allowed to drive from June 2018. In October of the same year, Saudi Arabia decided to allow women to watch the game in the stadium.