Saudi Arabia, women can go to Mecca without men

For the first time, women will be able to participate in the hajj, the traditional pilgrimage to Mecca, without a “guardian”. Saudi Arabia only announced the hajj ministry’s decision last month, which officially allowed women of all ages to leave without a male relative, the “mahram”, provided that they go there, however, in groups.

This decision is part of the social reforms promoted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which is trying to shake off the kingdom’s austere image and diversify its oil-dependent economy.

Since her rise to power in 2017, women have been allowed to drive and travel abroad without a male guardian.

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and Muslims who possess the physical and financial requirements are required to achieve it at least once in their lifetime. This year, at the pilgrimage, only 60,000 residents are allowed in Saudi Arabia, vaccinated against Covid-19 and selected according to an electronic verification procedure on 558,000 applicants. Before the pandemic, more than two million people took part in the hajj each time.

According to a Saudi official, women make up about 40% of the total number of pilgrims who this year participate in the rituals, organized for the second consecutive year, with different limitations due to the epidemic: the hajj is reserved for people aged between 18 and 65 who have received two doses of the vaccine and excludes those suffer from chronic diseases.

However, several travel agencies have already made it known that they will not accept women without a male guardian, as reported by a correspondent for theAfp in Riyadh: it is the demonstration of the fact that social reforms have had to clash for decades with the opposition of a deeply conservative society, and who continue to suffer from it.

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