RIYADH // Female divorcees and widows in Saudi Arabia are set to get their own ID cards allowing them to act independently from men.
The changes will allow women to register a child for school, access records and authorise medical procedures once their marriages have ended, media reports in the country said Thursday.
Without their own identity documents, divorced women in Saudi currently need permission from their husbands or a court order to perform those tasks, the Arab News said.
No date has been set for the change, it said.
Newspapers reported that 28 per cent of Saudi marriages end in divorce and 65 per cent of court cases in the kingdom involve family matters.
Women face a series of restrictions in Saudi, the only country in the world where they are not allowed to drive. Many also require permission from a man in their families to travel, work or marry.
There has, however, been a slow expansion of some rights for women.
This week more than 900 women are engaged in their inaugural campaigns for public office. The December 12 municipal ballot is also the first time women can vote for officials.
The late king Abdullah in 2013 named women to the appointed Shura Council which advises the cabinet.
And two years ago, a Saudi woman registered for the first time as a trainee lawyer.
* Agence France-Presse