UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

From Guardianship to Autonomy: Mobility, Freedom, and Gender Role Negotiation Among Saudi Women Sojourners in Canada

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.3390/socsci15030163

Authors

Honaida Shahbar

Reported year

2026

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:04:47.941467+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:04:47.941467+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

King Abdulaziz University

Reported affiliation countries

SA

Documentary abstract — original language

In a period of rapid social and economic change in Saudi Arabia under Vision 2030, increasing numbers of Saudi women undertake international sojourns for study and professional development. This article examines how these temporary migrations serve as sites for renegotiating gender roles, autonomy, and mobility. Using feminist narrative inquiry, we conducted 13 in-depth biographical interviews with Saudi women sojourners (students and spouses) living in Ottawa, Canada, and analyzed data using reflexive thematic analysis. Participants described a liminal autonomy: the startling acquisition of everyday freedoms—driving, unchaperoned mobility, and mixed-gender interaction—contrasted with prior constraints under male guardianship. Yet these freedoms were constrained by two transnational forces: a digital leash of family/community surveillance from home and a racializing gaze in Canada, where Islamophobia and othering complicated daily life and identity work. Women critically assessed a “moving target” of reform in Saudi Arabia, celebrating new mobilities (e.g., driving) while expressing skepticism toward the 2022 Personal Status Law, perceived as codifying patriarchal authority. We argue that sojourner autonomy is fragile, intersectional, and perceived as reversible upon return. The study advances theory by articulating liminal autonomy, showing how polymedia reproduces control across borders and distinguishing lifestyle freedoms from structural autonomy. Implications include intersectional campus supports, culturally attuned counseling, and recognition of returning sojourners as agents of social change.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

W7133301232

DOI

10.3390/socsci15030163

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

article

Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources

CA

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15030163
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W7133301232

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

• openalex:w185202596 · CITES
• openalex:w1968097047 · CITES
• openalex:w2082783984 · CITES
• openalex:w2137048665 · CITES
• openalex:w2153919312 · CITES
• openalex:w2337002970 · CITES
• openalex:w2950504429 · CITES
• openalex:w4245507600 · CITES
• openalex:w4246948413 · CITES
• openalex:w4251929630 · CITES
• openalex:w4391868456 · CITES
• openalex:w4400403369 · CITES
• openalex:w4413993259 · CITES
• openalex:w619314965 · CITES

0 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.