Building a bigger role for women in Saudi security services 
For years, Saudi Arabia has struggled with malicious actors seeking to reverse the country’s progress in favor of violent ideologies outside the fold of mainstream Islam. Now picture this: In a nation where separate male and female spaces exist, a select cadre of women trained as intelligence analysts and security operators identify patterns that may otherwise go unobserved by their male counterparts. They extract essential information from sensitive contacts, exploiting sources to protect the public. They track the online activity of extremist cells emanating domestically and region-wide, using sharp linguistic and analytical skills to frustrate the next generation of threats.
Until this becomes reality, the arm of intelligence can only extend so far.
In February, Saudi Arabia announced it would allow women to serve in the General Security Directorate of the Ministry of Interior at soldier rank. One month later, officials revealed the potential recruitment of women into the Civil Defense force. While this shift toward allowing women on to the frontlines of the Kingdom’s security apparatus is significant, more must be done to employ women in back-end positions in monitoring, analysis, and countering violent extremism (CVE) policy-making.
Both anecdotally and empirically, security officials and researchers have celebrated women as meticulous analysts and firm decision-makers who combine intuition with attention to detail, rounded out by social skills honed by cultural and familial conditioning. With so much unharnessed interest among women who have not yet had a chance to shine as security professionals, the Saudi leadership can be confident that qualified women who volunteer simply need the space to flourish.
As about 900,000 Saudi women search for work, according to the General Authority for Statistics, the Kingdom is increasingly under pressure to pursue creative ways to employ Saudi citizens. Undoubtedly, Saudi women represent a captive pool of talented recruits for the security sector. Many are multilingual, possess advanced degrees — and therefore may excel at high-level research and analysis — and have resided abroad thanks to the generosity of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program.
But are women equipped with the proper formal education and technical training for the security profession? The issue is two-fold. First, Saudi women are often unable to certify security studies as a valid degree when obtained abroad. Domestically, university-level education in security studies for women is non-existent, as King Fahd Security College — linked to the Ministry of Interior — is only open to men. Second, upon their return to Saudi Arabia, some female graduates find that few career paths are available outside of local research institutions or universities. Perhaps even more daunting is the perception that the security field is inherently a male domain — a barrier that persists even in my home country, the US.
Despite these challenges, many Saudi women’s education and experience should encourage their recruitment now, not five years down the line. Women who have studied communications, political science, law, international studies, linguistics, economics and others make excellent trainees for positions in the security field.
Furthermore, looking beyond the defense and interior ministries, recognized institutions already exist for women to enter the security space. Two initiatives immediately come to mind: Etidal and the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC). Established as part of the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to combat ideological and violent extremism, these bodies represent the face of an agile, outward-facing Saudi Arabia, one that adapts to rapidly evolving narratives on what motivates terror and what can be done to halt radicalization among vulnerable individuals.
Ultimately, hiring more women in the security sector is not only a practical matter in lowering unemployment, it also represents a move toward more comprehensive representation in a field that derives its strength from diversity in gender, background, education, and thought. Employing women at institutions like Etidal and the IMCTC is a logical progression of a Saudi Arabia that upholds its internal security priorities while reshaping social and professional opportunities for women.
Above all, such a move would also send a firm message that reflects the spirit of Vision 2030: The best and brightest minds are integral to this nation’s security and stability, and Saudi women are half of that equation.
Madison Clough is a strategic communications professional residing in Riyadh. She holds a master’s degree in international security from George Mason University and consults as a monitoring and evaluation specialist on a countering violent extremism project funded by the US Department of Homeland Security.
