Winning the case for women in work: Saudi Arabia’s steps to reform

Jamila who now works as a full-time lawyer in the capital, is certainly smiling about her new career options. But she does not want it to stop there.

“I don’t think a country will improve if only one gender accelerates in society while the other just stays as it is,” she says. “My father’s excited, my brothers are excited, my uncles are happy. We’re the sisters, we’re the mothers, we’re the daughters of society – we’re becoming how we should be. I just hope we’re given more chances that we’re up to everything we say we are.”

For every Jamila, there are far more women who remain outside the workforce. The government is introducing reforms – but slowly.

Equality here is still a long way off.