GENEVA: Saudi Arabia, appearing for the first time before a UN watchdog for women’s rights, faced toughed questions on Thursday and was challenged to grant gender equality.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has 23 independent experts monitoring adherence to a 1979 international bill of rights for women.

Saudi Arabia ratified the pact in 2000, with the proviso that Islamic Sharia law would prevail if there were any contradiction with its provisions.

At a one-day debate on its record, the Saudi delegation came under fire for failing to meet international norms guaranteeing women’s political, economic, social and civil rights.

“Only when women are free to make their own decisions on all aspects of their life are they full citizens,” committee member Maria Regina Tavares da Silva told the Geneva session.

Heisoo Shin, another committee member, said that a system of male guardianship “governed virtually every aspect of a women’s life” in Saudi Arabia.

“Without a man’s consent, a woman cannot study or get health service, work, marry, conduct business or even get an ambulance service in an emergency,” she said.—Reuters