Until very recently, the Shavadai treated their women as property, supposedly to protect them from what they called evil spirits (possibly the Goa'uld), though the laws are actually geared towards control and repression. Some men of the Shavadai, such as Moughal, saw the error of the "old ways", and treated their women better, but did little to change them. It seems that the laws were absolute and that women would be punished for disobeying them regardless of whether they were aware the laws existed. It took the influence of an outsider, Captain Samantha Carter, to finally liberate the women of the Shavadai. (SG1: "Emancipation")