The Arab News said a royal decree issued by King Salman ordered that women are no longer required to obtain a guardian's consent for official services “unless there is a legal basis for this request” under Islamic law.
Government agencies were advised of this directive, the report said.
Though the new royal decree provides some relief, activists say the order does not go far enough.
Saudi Arabia has some of the world's tightest restrictions
on women, and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive.
Under the guardianship system
a male family member, normally the father, husband or brother, must
grant permission for a woman's study, travel and other activities.
Sahar
Hassan Nasief, a women's rights activist in the Red Sea city of Jeddah,
welcomed royal attention to the issue but said it remained unclear what
will change under the decree.
“We still need more. We still need to get rid of the guardianship completely,” she told AFP.
Nassima
al-Sadah, an activist in the Gulf coast city of Qatif, said she does
not think the government is about to end guardianship.
“Maybe they will just reduce it,” she said.
Last year thousands of people signed a petition calling for an end to guardianship.
United
Nations special rapporteur Philip Alston, on a visit to Saudi Arabia in
January, said the guardianship system needs reform.
Activists
say that even female prisoners have to be received by the guardian upon
their release, meaning some have to languish in jail or a shelter
beyond their sentences if the man does not want to accept them.
Although the government no longer requires guardian permission for women to work, Human Rights Watch said in an earlier report that many employers still demand guardian consent in order to hire a woman.
Some hospitals also require a guardian's approval before carrying out medical procedures, it said.
Activists say that if they have open-minded male family members, getting their consent is not a problem.
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