Saudi Arabian women take to Twitter to campaign against male guardianship

Women are not currently allowed to travel, get married or work without permission

Saudi Arabian women are campaigning to abolish male guardianship (Getty)

Women across Saudi Arabia have joined a social media campaign calling for the end of the guardianship system.

People took to Twitter, using the hashtag #TogetherToEndMaleGuardianship, to show their support and demand social reform.

Currently women are not allowed to make major lifestyle decisions without the permission of their male guardians. The prohibition covers issues such as travelling abroad, getting married and wanting to work.

After the initial success of the English hashtag, an Arabic translation soon followed. The pair have since been used in over 170,000 tweets, causing both to trend on Twitter in Saudi Arabia, according to Vocativ.

The campaign was promoted by Human Rights Watch (HRW), who authored a report claiming the state directly enforces the guardianship system.

“The male guardianship system is the most significant impediment to realising women’s rights in the country, effectively rendering adult women legal minors who cannot make key decisions for themselves,” HRW said in a report on the issue.

Under increasing pressure from women’s rights activists, the Saudi government agreed to get rid of male guardianship in 2009 and again in 2013 but the system remains mostly intact.

HRW is calling for the abolishment of the system and says Saudi Arabia “is legally obligated to end discrimination against women without delay”.