New Delhi: The King of Saudi Arabia has recently decreed that women are allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, ending its status as the only country in the world where women were not allowed to do so. A ministerial body will be set up to give advice within 30 days and the royal order will be implemented by 24 June 2018.
Activists around the world and especially in Saudi Arabia have been overjoyed at the Kings decree; however, the conservatives in the country are dismayed. The conservatives’ opinion on the subject range from “They are too stupid to drive,” and “It will lead to more intermingling of the sexes.”

However, such a woman specific law is not unique to Saudi Arabia. There are many other countries around the world where there exist even more illogical laws. Here are 7 laws and the countries that follow them.
1. A Kidnapper/Rapist will not be prosecuted if he marries his victim
Countries: Malta, Lebanon
This may surprise many people to see a European country first on this list. But the practice of bride kidnapping has been practiced around the world and throughout history. It continues to occur in countries in Central Asia, the Caucasus region, and parts of Africa, and among peoples as diverse as the Hmong in Southeast Asia, the Tzeltal in Mexico, and the Romani in Europe. However, Malta is the only country to still keep it legal.
2. Women can’t vote
Country: Vatican City
This is somewhat of a strange case and is the only country in the world to do so since Saudi Arabia let women in 2015. In the Vatican City, not even all men have the right to vote, as the only people who have voting rights are cardinals. Furthermore the only voting is for a new Pope. Because only men can become cardinals, this effectively means that no woman has a say in the election of a new Pope.
3. Women cannot practice any profession without the approval of their husband
Countries: Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, and Sudan
A woman in these countries is allowed to exercise a separate profession only if her husband does not object. Such laws often state that the husband’s objection must be based on the interest of the family. In some countries, wives are still required to receive authorization from their husbands for any legal act committing them to any payment to be made in person – which includes opening a bank account.
4. Marital Violence is legal
Countries: Russia, Latvia, Nigeria, Pakistan
In these countries a man can legally assault a woman without facing prosecution if she is his wife and if there is no ‘grievous’ hurt. Moreover, in Pakistan, a husband is entitled to ‘lightly’ beat his wife if she does one of the following: defies his commands, does not dress up as per her husband’s desires, refuses intercourse or does not take a bath after intercourse/ menstrual periods.
5. Testimony from women is only half as valuable as a man
Countries: Egypt, Iran, Pakistan
Islamic law states that to prove an offence against someone in the case of financial documents, one man can testify or two women, thus making the women half as effective as a man in a court of law. 
6. Men are supposed to inherit more than women
Countries: United Kingdom, Chile, Tunisia
In the UK, the principle of primogeniture means that landowners in the UK leave their property to the first son that they have rather than their daughters. In Tunisia, a 1956 law explicitly states that, “where there are any sons, the male inherits twice as much as the female,” as though a male life is twice as valuable as a female life.
7. Children born to foreign fathers do not become citizens but not vice versa
Countries: Malaysia, Bahamas, Jordan, Lebanon
Laws affecting a person’s national identity continue to discriminate against women in 27 countries around the world proving it to be a truly global issue. In these countries a child needs a local father to automatically gain citizenship. Their mother’s nationality is not passed on, so if a native woman is married to a foreign husband, her children do not have the right to become citizens, and are therefore often denied access to vital public services like healthcare and education.