Women in Saudi Arabia call for an end to oppressive patriarchal laws with hashtag campaign

Women in Saudi Arabia have started a wildly popular hashtag campaign calling for an end to laws that give men control of their lives. The tag #StopEnslavingSaudiWomen and its Arabic translation, has been posted thousands of times in a bid to speak out about male guardianship laws.

In the Islamic nation, women must have an appointed male guardian, usually their father or husband, who are given legal control over their lives.

They must seek permission from their guardians to carry out certain activities including travelling, studying, marrying or even having surgery. Protests and rallies in the Islamic country are banned and come with a custodial sentence but women have gotten round that obstacle by taking their campaign to social media.