According to a report by Fars with a translation by IFP, 20% of women in Saudi Arabia are not permitted to have access to ID cards. Saudi Civil Affairs pointed the blame on a lack of registration offices for women which is where they would be able to obtain an ID card.
With a total population of 30 million in Saudi Arabia, nearly half of them are women. Many of which are deprived of very basic rights. Up until 2004, these deprived women were not permitted to have ID cards. In order for them to be documented, they would be registered on their father’s ID and then again on their husband’s ID when they got married.
According to the country’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin-Abdullah al-Sheikh, women cannot have photo ID cards because they are forbidden to show they face. However, the Saudi Interior Ministry has suggested a plan for fingerprint identification instead of using a photo.