Nisaa FM: - When a young Saudi lawyer returned to the kingdom after years of living abroad, her first months of work allowed her to realize that thousands of women in her country didn't know their legal rights. To change that, Nasreen Alissa decided to launch a creative app called "Know Your Rights."
Today, the app helps Saudi women find more independence and empowerment. It is considered the first of its kind in the kingdom and across the Middle East. It provides women free legal advice and services, helping to empower them with much needed knowledge.
The woman behind the app
Nasreen Alissa is a Saudi national who was born, raised, and educated abroad. After she received a double bachelor’s degree in law and sociology, in addition to double master degrees in law, the lawyer moved back to the kingdom. She currently works as a corporate lawyer at a private law firm and is also involved in various charity organizations and initiatives related to the rights of women in Saudi Arabia.
Alissa tells, "I am highly interested and passionate about taking up pro bono cases and helping people, especially women, through launching charitable initiatives. I’ve always wanted to help women, and be involved in women’s rights.
Since its launch, the app “Know Your Rights” has seen thousands of Saudi women use it to figure out how they can get the law on their side in various situations.
"It's a solution app, so let's say a woman has a specific problem and is looking for legal solutions, she now has a place where she can easily find them. I made sure that anything and everything a woman might need is available on the platform. There’s a section on intellectual property rights: You wrote a poem and someone stole it? Your husband stole your jewelry? There's an answer. You’re looking for a job? You need advice on how to start looking, there's an answer for that as well," she explains. The app also features a video that explains how a woman can file a lawsuit on her own, without the need to hire a lawyer and many have used it to do that.
When asked about the impact the app has had on the lives of the women who've used it, the lawyer explains: "It has already helped a lot of women when it comes to figuring out what to do when they find themselves in a troubling situation.
Continuously developing and expanding the app
Alissa is continuously working on developing and expanding the app, so that it features up-to-date information and guidance.
"I expand in accordance to what women need and depending on the consultations I get. I am also constantly working on editing the content in the app because different laws that are related to women in the kingdom continue to change," she says.
In recent years, many Saudi women, including Alissa, have called for reforms in laws that govern the rights of women in Saudi Arabia. And it seems that the work they're doing is moving things forward.
In recent months, the kingdom has passed several new laws that help enhance women's rights. These include laws that govern the country's male guardianship system, marriage, divorce, alimony, and child custody.
Source: www.stepfeed.com