Saudi army officers pass F-15 fighter jets, GBU bombs and missiles displayed during a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the creation of the King Faisal Air Academy at King Salman Air Force Base in Riyadh on January 25, 2017.
Photographer: Fayez Nureldine / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Fayez Nureldine / AFP / Getty Images
Follow us @Middle East for more news about the region.
Saudi women can now take up arms and join the army, the latest open profession in the kingdom up to female recruits.
Women in Saudi Arabia can be hired as soldiers, corporal spears, corporals, sergeants and staff sergeants, according to Arab News in Saudi Arabia.
Jobs have gradually opened up for Saudi women, whose increased participation in the workforce is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to transform the world’s largest Arab economy. It is now common to see Saudi women working as cashiers in shopping malls and occupying roles that were previously limited to men, such as waiting tables in restaurants and making cappuccino in cafes.
Two Saudi Royal 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 roles and rights in the workplace came even as women activists were targeted in a crackdown on dissent.
Saudi Arabia releases US women’s rights activist
The plan to allow women to join the army was first announced in 2019, the same year the kingdom said it would allow women to leave the country without the permission of a male relative, a major step towards ending a restrictive system of guardianship that has been heavily criticized at home and abroad.
This came after Saudi Arabia, in 2018, allowed women to drive and ended its status as the last country on earth to ban women from driving, a step that Bloomberg Economics had estimated at the time. could add up to $ 90 billion to 2030 economic output.
Saudi women sell products from a stall at the Al Yasmin Mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, August 6, 2017.
Tasneem Alsultan / Bloomberg
In addition to the usual weight and height criteria, women applying for military service must have at least a higher education. Applicants married to foreigners will not be accepted, Arab News said.
Last year, the justice minister appointed 100 women as notaries public, and in January a government official said Saudi Arabia would begin appointing women judges “soon.”
Until the recent change, women had limited options when looking for work. For the most part, they worked as teachers or for a government entity. In 2011, a law was passed requiring all lingerie and cosmetics companies to have only female employees, following an intensive campaign led by women.