Eleven things women in Saudi Arabia cannot do

Ban on women entering a Starbucks store in Riyadh is latest in long line of restrictions

Saudi Arabia women
Women wearing the traditional abaya gown and hijab headscarf

Saudi woman applies makeup on a model

(Image credit: AMER HILABI/AFP/Getty)

Wear clothes or make-up that "show off their beauty"

Saudi Arabia is one of the only Muslim-majority countries that legally imposes a dress code.

The majority of women are forced to wear an abaya – a long black cloak – and a head scarf.

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The abaya covers their everyday clothing.

The face does not necessarily need to be covered, "much to the chagrin of some hardliners," says The Economist.

But this does not stop the religious police from harassing women for exposing too much flesh or wearing too much makeup.

The dress code was extended to all female television presenters earlier this year.

The king's advisory body, the Shoura Council, ruled that the women should wear "modest" clothes that do not "show off their beauty", according to Arab News.

Expats are given some leeway, especially in their private residences. Michelle Obama's visited Saudi Arabia in colourful, loose-fitting clothing and no headscarf in 2015.

Click to page 4 to discover other things women in the Muslim kingdom are still unable to do.