On Sept. 25, Saudi Arabia announced that King Abdullah would extend suffrage rights to women. Women now will be able to vote for members of the Shura Council along with having the opportunity to run for positions in the assembly.

“Because we refuse to marginalize women in society in all roles that comply with sharia [code of conduct or religious law], we have decided, after deliberation with our senior clerics and others... to involve women in the Shura Council as members, starting next term,” King Abdullah said in a news conference.

The Shura Council is a 150-member assembly appointed by the king to advise on legislation. It consists of 12 committees that cover topics including human rights and foreign affairs. The council is permitted to propose laws and present them to the king. Since Abdullah took the throne in 2005, he is slowly edging towards liberalizing the Saudi Arabian society, especially in regards to women. In 2009, he appointed Norah al-Fayez as deputy education minister, which was the first position given to a women. Just a few months later, Saudi Arabia opened King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, which is the first co-ed university in the country.

Even with theses changes, a recent survey by Newsweek ranks Saudi Arabia in the top 20 worst countries for women to reside in, with not being able to drive, seek divorce, or inherit property main factors in the vote. Fellow middle eastern country Afghanistan is ranked second worst, even though the women in their country received the right to vote in 1983. Saudi Arabia was also ranked the least democratic country in the Middle East, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index. It has been ruled by six kings since it was established in 1932.

Saudi Arabia has also recently been making headlines for the driving ban on women. It is currently the only country in the world that prohibits women (including foreign women) from driving. Families who can afford it are forced to hire live-in drivers, for approximately $400 a month. Those who can’t afford that expense have to rely on male relatives to drive them the places they must go. Najalaa Harriri is among the dozens of women involved in the campaign Women2Drive, rebelling against the ban, in which the women post videos of themselves driving on the internet to draw a international focus on the rising problem.

Since then, Harriri began her own campaign, titled “My Right, My Dignity,” which calls for an end to all forms of discrimination in Saudi Arabia. Another women, Shaima Jastaina, was found guilty of driving without government permission, and was sentenced to ten lashes. This sentencing was the first of its kind for the Women2Drive movement.

The underlying problem in all of these restrictions is the fact that women can’t do much of anything with out a “mahram,”or male guardian. They cannot work, travel, marry, divorce, gain admittance to a public hospital, or live independently without male permission. They can also face the possibility of being beat if they don’t obey, and fathers and brothers can prevent a marriage if they don’t approve of the suitor.

In 2008, a group of Saudi Arabian women opposing equality in their country launched the petition “My Guardian Knows What’s Best For Me,” and gathered over 5,000 signatures. This petition request punishment for activists demanding equality between men and women, along with mingling between men and women in mixed environments.

While this is only the beginning of a sure change for Saudi Arabia, the progress is undeniable.