A mother and her daughter recently became the subject of much local gossip. They arrived in Riyadh from Dammam to undergo an interview and were forced to spend a night in a taxi. Their desperate attempt to find a hotel room or a rented apartment in Riyadh was doomed to fail because they had arrived in the city without a legal guardian.
The story of the mother and daughter was published on Alarabiya.net, which further mentioned that the family’s legal guardian was in hospital in Dammam. This is why he could not accompany them to Riyadh. The interview could also not be delayed.
The story, even if some people consider it to be inaccurate, could happen anytime, anywhere in the Kingdom. There are no well-defined accommodation rules and regulations concerning women renting hotel rooms or apartments.
Before writing my article, I telephoned a hotel in Jeddah and enquired about the documents needed for women to book hotel rooms. The Asian operator did not give me a chance to ask my question. He simply said the hotel could not accommodate women and hung up.
I respect the issue of conservatism, the purpose of which — I presume - is only to save women from the hassle of facing hurdles when traveling without legal guardians. However, what is the situation of a widow or a family that has no legal guardian and who wishes to travel to a city for medical treatment or official procedures? What can they do in such a situation? Will there always be a kind person — like the taxi driver — offering them temporary accommodation? Why can we not have organizations that can provide accommodation to women who are without legal guardians after making sure of their identification papers and their purpose for traveling etc?
The news report published on Alarabiya.net quoted the mother at the end wondering: “What is it that provided me and my daughter from renting an apartment?” To be fair we can only ask the same question on behalf of every widow and every woman, who is without a legal guardian: What could they possibly do if their circumstances force them to travel?
