Women in Saudi Arabia are monitored in airports, with a device that sends an instant message to their husbands if the wives want to flee the country, writes Daily Mail.
This is just the latest “brain wave” of Saudi authorities, criticized because they would restrict women’s rights, says the source.
Every woman in Saudi Arabia is bound to have a “guardian” and can not leave the country without guardian’s permission. When they take their wives out of country, husbands must complete an online document or at the airport giving their approval for their wife to leave the country, according to the same source.
Even if the husband consents to his wife to follow him across the border, he still receives a phone message from the immigration office. It seems that the system has been in place for about two years, but so far the messages sent were optional. Last week, absolutely all Saudi men whose wives are traveling abroad receive this text message, notes the Daily Mail.
The new law in Saudi Arabia sparked harsh messages online. “Why not just implant them a chip?” asked rhetorically a user on Twitter, while another one said that he needs an SMS to learn that his wife left the country, it means that he’s either married with the wrong person, or he needs a psychiatrist. In addition, Saudi women have complained online that they are subject to “continuous humiliation”. Saudi columnists write that this law means that that women are basically “slaves of men.”
Daily Mail writes that Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive. Last year, a protest against the ban has resulted in dozens of arrests, says the source. In addition, Saudi women were not given the right to vote until last year, and 30% of them are unemployed.
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