There’s nothing more liberating than knowing that your every movement in and out of the country is being monitored not only by the local authorities but also by your assigned male guardian. All of which is designed to ensure that Saudi women at all times realize that they are thoroughly being watched and cared for in a very special way.
The way it’s suppose to work is the that male guardians lest they be concerned where their female charges are will receive timely texts from the government so as to allay their fears that their female charges may have strayed too far from base. So if a woman wants to leave the county she can only do so of course as long as her male guardian is contacted and he gives her his signed permission.
Unfortunately for those of you who enjoy authoritarian monitoring devices (and there are a few of you in every town) it seems the new tactic hasn’t gone down too well over there in Saudi Arabia with local press outlets, including columnist Badriya al-Bishr, lauding it as Orwellian, akin to ‘modern slavery’ whilst female activists have expressed abject outrage that such a law could ever exist.
The new decree comes following hopes that King Abdullah might ease up on chaining women to dogmas and stipulations that regress their rights in today’s modern day and age. To date he has allowed women the right to vote as well as run for office in the 2015 municipal elections but for now insists that they still not be allowed to possess drivers licenses.
Reflected activist Suad Shemmari: “Saudi women are treated as minors throughout their lives even if they hold high positions. There can never be reform in the kingdom without changing the status of women and treating them exactly the same as men.”
Of course that’s probably the whole exercise of introducing the tracking system, cause the moment women are given some kind of autonomy is the moment that some men begin to fret and invent new ways to curtail their sudden new found autonomy.
above image found here
