Absher, the application that allows men in Saudi Arabia to follow and control women

Absher is an application designed by the Saudi government that allows citizens to follow various procedures, such as the payment of fines, the renewal of a driver's license or the registration of a birth . But In addition to all this, it's a control platform for men to manage travel permits for women.

It should be recalled that in Saudi Arabia there is a system of male guardianship which gives the husband, son or father almost absolute control over the women in the family for which he is responsible. Among other problems, women must ask permission to marry, open a bank account, get out of jail after serving time and travel.

His case has brought back the controversial tutelage system that works in Saudi Arabia. And Absher, which is available for iOS and Android, is a digital tool for exercising this system that legitimizes the tracking and monitoring of women.

From there, the man can grant or revoke travel permits by specifying the time and destination. You can also configure the system so that the guardian receives a mobile phone alert when a woman crosses a border or registers at the airport. as published Initiated.

The app runs three years ago and already had more than a million downloads on Google. Although Apple does not specify this number, it can be deduced that it is high. According to the Ministry of the Interior of Saudi Arabia, Absher has 11 million users in total.

On the platform, there is a section where the "dependents" who are outside or inside the country are detailed. Dependents means the people that the man has to support, who are women and children.

In the subsection "Dependents Abroad", it is possible to indicate whether the woman will visit one or more destinations, until when and on what date the permit will be issued. question will expire. Women can also use the app to do paperwork, but can not access the travel permit page.

Before this application, to leave the country, Saudi women had to present to the authorities at the border a license signed by "their guardian" or guardian.

The application is a digital tool to exercise the guardianship system that prevails in this country and has been criticized repeatedly because it subjects the woman to the will of the man who manages it.

Amnesty International has asked Google and Apple to evaluate the withdrawal of this application, as it facilitates the violation of women's human rights in Saudi Arabia.

"The use of the Absher application to restrict women's movements once again reveals the disturbing system of discrimination against women guardianship system and the need for a genuine human rights reform that governs the country, which goes beyond economic and social reforms, "Amnesty International said in a statement to Washington Post.

"The Saudi government uses this app to discriminate against women.Therefore, those who provide this app must ensure that it respects the terms of use and even evaluate the plea for the amendment of these laws. and the application, "said a spokesman for Human Rights Watch.

Consulted on this subject, Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said he was not aware of the operation of the application, but said the company would investigate this case.

In Saudi Arabia, changes have been made in recent years: now women can drive, do not need permission from their guardians to work, can vote and also attend board meetings. Shura and municipalities. But the truth is that women's real participation in public life is very limited.

In order to register as voters, women must prove that they reside in the district where they are going to vote, which is often an almost impossible task, as their names usually do not appear in the titles or rental contracts; with which they must present a family card, where the link with the man indicated in these documents is proved. And this type of documentation is usually in the hands of the tutor, with whom his participation is always linked to men.

According to a report from the Ministry of Social Affairs of Saudi Arabia published in 2015In one year, 8,016 cases of physical and psychological violence were reported to women. Many of these episodes were domestic violence. The number may be higher because not all incidents are reported.

In 2013, Saudi Arabia criminalized domestic violence, but several social activists claim that the law is not enforced, which means that women continue to be victims of abuse and domestic violence. Women who try to escape from their families or husbands may be arrested and forced to return to the home from which they are seeking to leave.

"In the guardianship system, a man controls the life of the Saudi woman from birth until her death, every Saudi woman must have a guardian, usually her father or her husband, but in some cases she is a brother or even a son, He has the power to make many crucial decisions on his behalf.The Saudi state considers women as the best permanent attorneys. Saudi Arabia has done very little to put an end to this system, which is the biggest obstacle to women's rights in the country. "concludes in an article published by Human Rights Watch.