The Sharia law has been used sense ancient times and the strictness had changed over the centuries. Because of the Sharia law the treatment of women has been primarily the same over the years, however the change is in the amount of people strickly following tradition. In more lenient times, religious laws are not followed exactly, and the opposite for more conservative times.
Time has done little to contribute to the conditions for women. The biggest shift in conditions for women happened in the 1980's and the very recent present. There have been many gains for Saudi women very recently due largely to western influence, some say this is happening too fast to truly make a change. The leader of the country, namely Saudi Arabia dictates how women live.
The Koran has dictated the treatment of Muslim women for centuries. Not much can change because the book will not change. Protests have occurred in the past however not much is different today than it was in the past because little changed in the past.