saudi women electronically tracked
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Cannot leave country without male consent

Saudi women electronically tracked

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice Saudi women electronically tracked

Riyadh - AFP

Denied the right to travel without consent from their male guardians and banned from driving, women in Saudi Arabia are now monitored by an electronic system that tracks any cross-border movements. Since last week, Saudi women\'s male guardians began receiving text messages on their phones informing them when women under their custody leave the country, even if they are travelling together. Manal al-Sherif, who became the symbol of a campaign launched last year urging Saudi women to defy a driving ban, began spreading the information on Twitter, after she was alerted by a couple. The husband, who was travelling with his wife, received a text message from the immigration authorities informing him that his wife had left the international airport in Riyadh. \"The authorities are using technology to monitor women,\" said columnist Badriya al-Bishr, who criticised the \"state of slavery under which women are held\" in the ultra-conservative kingdom. Women are not allowed to leave the kingdom without permission from their male guardian, who must give his consent by signing what is known as the \"yellow sheet\" at the airport or border. The move by the Saudi authorities was swiftly condemned on social network Twitter - a rare bubble of freedom for millions in the kingdom - with critics mocking the decision. \"Hello Taliban, herewith some tips from the Saudi e-government!\" read one post. \"Why don\'t you cuff your women with tracking ankle bracelets too?\" wrote Israa. \"Why don\'t we just install a microchip into our women to track them around?\" joked another. \"If I need an SMS to let me know my wife is leaving Saudi Arabia, then I\'m either married to the wrong woman or need a psychiatrist,\" tweeted Hisham. \"This is technology used to serve backwardness in order to keep women imprisoned,\" said Bishr, the columnist. \"It would have been better for the government to busy itself with finding a solution for women subjected to domestic violence\" than track their movements into and out of the country. Saudi Arabia applies a strict interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law, and is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive. In June 2011, female activists launched a campaign to defy the ban, with many arrested for doing so and forced to sign a pledge they will never drive again. No law specifically forbids women in Saudi Arabia from driving, but the interior minister formally banned them after 47 women were arrested and punished after demonstrating in cars in November 1990. Last year, King Abdullah - a cautious reformer - granted women the right to vote and run in the 2015 municipal elections, a historic first for the country. In January, the 89-year-old monarch appointed Sheikh Abdullatif Abdel Aziz al-Sheikh, a moderate, to head the notorious religious police commission, which enforces the kingdom\'s severe version of Sharia law. Following his appointment, Sheikh banned members of the commission from harassing Saudi women over their behaviour and attire, raising hopes a more lenient force will ease draconian social constraints in the country. But the kingdom\'s \"religious establishment\" is still to blame for the discrimination of women in Saudi Arabia, says liberal activist Suad Shemmari. \"Saudi women are treated as minors throughout their lives even if they hold high positions,\" said Shemmari, who believes \"there can never be reform in the kingdom without changing the status of women and treating them\" as equals to men. But that seems a very long way off. The kingdom enforces strict rules governing mixing between the sexes, while women are forced to wear a veil and a black cloak, or abaya, that covers them from head to toe except for their hands and faces. The many restrictions on women have led to high rates of female unemployment, officially estimated at around 30 percent. In October, local media published a justice ministry directive allowing all women lawyers who have a law degree and who have spent at least three years working in a lawyer\'s office to plead cases in court. But the ruling, which was to take effect this month, has not been implemented.  

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

saudi women electronically tracked saudi women electronically tracked

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

saudi women electronically tracked saudi women electronically tracked

 



GMT 09:54 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

'Friendly and kind' N. Korean skaters

GMT 09:36 2017 Thursday ,07 December

Heidy Karam’s contract to present talk show close

GMT 10:50 2012 Friday ,20 January

Dusty weather expected in UAE on Friday

GMT 09:35 2018 Saturday ,13 January

New Zealand bat first in third ODI against Pakistan

GMT 10:48 2017 Saturday ,23 December

Meryl Streep's brand under threat

GMT 06:53 2017 Thursday ,11 May

17th Doha Forum To Begin Sunday

GMT 10:30 2017 Thursday ,23 November

Reports underline proliferation of weapons in Arab world

GMT 07:46 2017 Monday ,30 October

Catch it early, treat it early and move on

GMT 08:05 2015 Tuesday ,17 February

Conan O'Brien is first late night host to film in Cuba

GMT 16:17 2018 Thursday ,30 August

Five Saudi women pilots granted GACA licences
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice