Women sit among men in a newly opened cafe in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, Aug 2, 2019 — Reuters

Women in Saudi Arabia will not be required to use separate entrances from men or sit behind partitions at restaurants in the latest measure announced by the government. This latest move is to further consolidate the country’s move towards reforms that seek to relax conservative laws.

The decision was announced over the weekend by the Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry.

While some restaurants and cafes in the coastal city of Jiddah and Riyadh’s upscale hotels had already been allowing unrelated men and women to sit freely, the move codifies what has been a sensitive issue in the past among traditional Saudis who view gender segregation as a religious requirement. Despite that, neighboring Muslim countries do not have similar rules.

Restaurants and cafes in Saudi Arabia, including major Western chains like Starbucks, are currently segregated by “family” sections allocated for women who are out on their own or who are accompanied by male relatives, and “singles” sections for just men. Many also have separate entrances for women and partitions or rooms for families where women are not visible to single men. In smaller restaurants or cafes with no space for segregation, women are not allowed in.

A segregation board separates women and families from men at a McDonalds restaurant in Riyadh

The statement noted that the long list of published decisions was aimed at attracting investments and creating greater business opportunities.

Across Saudi Arabia, the norm has been that unrelated men and women are not permitted to mix in public. Government-run schools and most public universities remain segregated, as are most Saudi weddings.

In recent years Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pushed for sweeping social reforms ,with women and men now able to attend concerts and movie theaters that were once banned. He also curtailed the powers of the country’s religious police, who had been enforcers of conservative social norms, like gender segregation in public.

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