The Relationship Between Law and Society (Research Paper Sample)

The Relationship Between Law and Society Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation The Relationship Between Law and Society The association between law and society can be understood through the lens of Saudi women that have experienced significant transformations in the recent years. They are now being allowed to drive around and get education. Indeed, this was something that had for a long time been viewed as wrong in Saudi society. Crown Prince Mohammed is now Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, who has now codified for women to have the right to drive, visit sporting occasions, and travel without getting the permits from their men. Educating women in the country is a new phenomenon as in the year 1970, only 2% of women were within the literacy threshold. The education of women has come four decades later as Saudi Arabia now cites a rise in female literacy rate of 91% (Drury, 2015). Indeed, such developments in women empowerment marked by them being able to drive and get education have significant impact on the expansion agenda of Saudi Arabia and the society as a whole as they have become independent and can now go to work as the number of those in the workforce rises. Saudi Arabia has made various limited changes in the past decade to ease restrictions imposed on women including the right to drive around. Since the year 2013, women have been permitted to rise bicycles only at designated parks and recreation centers when accompanied by male relatives. More women have continued to seek for the right to drive. For instance, in 2011, many of them were seen driving and posted their videos on social media as a part of their campaign dubbed “women2drive” (Beckerle, 2016, p. 28). The rationale for this is that the country’s imposition of the guardianship model is founded on restrictive interpretation of Quran, which is something challenged by most Saudi women. Religious scholars have also been seen to challenge this interpretation including a former Saudi judge indicating that such a system is not needed under Sharia law. The previous leader of the religious police also indicated that the ban on women driving is not under Islamic law in 2013 (Beckerle, 2016, p. 5). Since then, King Abdullah has been deemed as a progressive leader that has permitted women to drive without having to take their men with them. Loujain al-Hathloul is one of the renowned women that fought for the right to drive in Saudi Arabia and had to pay a price through imprisonment by the authorities. She got arrested in May 2018 during a crackdown on dissidents (Parker, 2019). Saudi Arabia granted women the right to drive as a historic move that saw them seek for more freedoms. However, they still remained under strict guardianship laws that saw them unable to make basic decisions without seeking permission from their male counterparts. Fortunately, tens of thousands of women in Saudi Arabia have been issued with driver’s licenses and can now drive (Specia, 2019). Driving schools handling women have eventually been established in the nation. Moreover, car manufacturers have established advertising campaigns focused on Saudi women. In fact, some experts have indicated that the lifting of such a ban on women driving could lead to the success of the nation’s automotive sector (Specia, 2019). Ideally, Saudi women can now enjoy a driving right that they did not have before due to restrictive guardianship laws. Most importantly, significant changes have been realized in the education sector as many women are now getting educated and joining careers of their choice. Until the year 1956, women across the country were not permitted to obtain education (Alsuwaida, 2016, p. 112). In fact, according to highlights in Sharia law and the holy Quran, women could only be educated to get them ready for wife duties. Women’s higher education across the country was initially created in 1962 in Riyadh (Al Alhareth, Al Dighrir, & Al Alhareth, 2015, p. 10). Before then, a woman’s fundamental role was seen as that of a nurturing parent and housewife. Change started when a group of middle-class men presented a petition to the government to develop schools to provide education for girls. The first government-financed school for girls was created in 1960 (Alsuwaida, 2016, p. 112). Girls came in to join the schools in high numbers and the curriculum has always been the same as that developed for males. However, the course material for girls is usually less extensive than that for men. The efforts by King Abdullah bin Abdul have been seen as there has been an adoption of policies that have pushed for women to be able to work towards attaining employment in various industrial sectors similar to their male counterparts (Alsuwaida, 2016, p. 113). Saudi officials now claim to have almost eradicated illiteracy in full among young generations of females in the country. Saudi men have for a long period been getting scholarships from the government to study overseas. However, with the entrance of King Abdullah into government in 2005, overseas scholarships were implemented for women as well for the first time in history of Saudi Arabia (Drury, 2015). Many of the women are also getting scholarships to study abroad. Indeed, this has a positive impact on the development of Saudi Arabia as they act as ambassadors with an aim of altering the Western perceptions of Saudi women (Drury, 2015). Some of the notable institutions of higher learning in Saudi Arabia include the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and the Princess Nora Bint Adbulrahman University, which is known to be the world’s biggest female-only institution (Drury, 2015). Consequently, more Saudi women have continued to gain education in the country and overseas. The society in Saudi Arabia has benefited significantly through increased education for women and the permission granted to them to drive. In this regard, education has raised their knowledge and skills to work in various industries across the country. In the present day, Saudi women are relentlessly going for higher education. Indeed, their transformation efforts would become more worthwhile if the government continues to assist them (Alsuwaida, 2016, p. 111). Although not all women have been able to join higher education and get technical skills, more of them are taking teaching and social work positions in various industries. In this regard, they have become more independent than before and can now contribute to their families’ wellbeing. Some are also running businesses as entrepreneurs due to the skills they acquire through education. The right to drive has also impacted on the development of Saudi Arabia’s society as women can now attend events and go to work independently without male guardianship. Women can now travel freely as they have the chance to obtain driving licenses just the same way as their male counterparts. Indeed, this is after an acknowledgement of Article 15(4) of CEDAW that grants the freedom of movement to individuals. There is also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that holds everyone with the right to movement and residence inside the territories of their nation, to leave when they want, and get back (Beckerle, 2016, p. 20). More women in Saudi enjoy driving as the transporta...