![FILE - In this June 22, 2018, file photo, women wait in line to ride go carts at a road safety event for female drivers launched at the Riyadh Park Mall in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has issued new laws that grant women greater freedoms by allowing any citizen to apply for a passport and travel freely, ending a long-standing and controversial guardianship policy that had required male consent for a woman to travel or carry a passport. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File)]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"80","h":"54","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAFct8l.img?h=541&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"42","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAFct8l.img?h=423&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"42","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAFct8l.img?h=423&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}})
Saudi Arabia on Friday published new laws that loosen restrictions on women by allowing all citizens women and men alike to apply for a passport and travel freely, ending a long-standing guardianship policy that had controlled women's freedom of movement.
The development is a potential game-changer for Saudi women's rights.
The kingdom's legal system has long been criticized because it treated adult women as minors, requiring they have a man's consent to obtain a passport or travel abroad. Often a woman's male guardian is her father or husband, and in some cases a woman's son.
The changes were widely celebrated by Saudis on Twitter, with many posting memes showing people dashing to the airport with luggage and others hailing the 33-year-old crown prince believed to be the force behind these moves.
Other changes issued in the decrees allow women to register a marriage, divorce or a child's birth, and obtain official family documents, which could ease hurdles women faced in obtaining a national identity card and enrolling their children in school.
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