Saudi Arabian women are being monitored by an electronic system at airports that notifies their male 'guardians' when they try to leave the country.
Women in the Muslim country, which has long been criticised for its limitations on women's rights, are required to have a male guardian responsible for them.
The new system now sends a text message to the men informing them that the woman is leaving or entering the country, even if the pair are together.
Equal rights: Campaigners in Saudi Arabia have criticised a new system that sends a woman's male 'guardian' a text message when they leave or enter the country. The automatic message is even sent if the couple are together
Equal rights campaigners have lambasted the system, saying it is another way of keeping women 'imprisoned' in the country.
Women in the strict Islamic country are not allowed to leave Saudi Arabia without the permission of their guardian, who can consent on what is known as a 'yellow document'.
The document previously had to be produced at the airport but can now be completed online to avoid embarrassment for airport staff and the travelling women.
Notified: Critics have described the text message system as 'imprisonment'. Campaigners took to social networks such as Twitter to voice their concern
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.
The rule provoked a campaign to defy the ban last year, which resulted in many of the activists being arrested.
One of the campaign's figureheads, Manal al-Sherif, wrote about the new airport system after being alerted by a couple.
A husband travelling with his wife received a text message from the immigration authorities informing him that his wife had left the international airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital.
The system is thought to have been in place for approximately two years, but previously operated on an opt-in basis.
As of last week, guardians are now automatically sent a message when their 'dependents' leave. As well as women, this is also thought to include children and foreign workers sponsored by an individual.
News of the rules caused uproar on social networks, where women complained about being subjected to 'constant humiliation'.
One twitter post read: 'Why don’t we just install a microchip into our women to track them around?'
Another said: 'If I need an SMS to let me know my wife is leaving Saudi Arabia, then I’m either married to the wrong woman or need a psychiatrist.'
Writing in the Saudi Gazette, columnist Badriya al-Bishr, said: 'To put an adult woman under the constant control of her husband is proof that the wife is a slave.'
He added: 'This is technology used to serve backwardness in order to keep women imprisoned.'
Power: Women were only granted the right to vote last year by King Abdullah, above. The country ranked second worst in a global survey on women's rights earlier this year
Saudi Arabia applies a strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. Earlier this year it ranked second worst in a Thomson Reuters global survey on women’s rights.
In June 2011, female activists launched a campaign to defy the country's driving ban, with many arrested and forced to sign a pledge saying they will never drive again.
No law specifically forbids women in Saudi Arabia from driving, but the interior minister formally banned them after 47 women were arrested and punished after demonstrating in cars in November 1990.
Women were only granted the right to vote last year when King Abdullah allowed women to both vote and run in the 2015 municipal elections.
The kingdom enforces strict rules governing mixing between males and females.
The many restrictions on women have led to high rates of female unemployment, officially estimated at around 30 per cent.
Local media published a justice ministry directive in October stating that all women lawyers who have a law degree and who have spent at least three years working in a lawyer’s office can plead cases in court.
But the ruling, which was to take effect this month, has not been implemented.
The country sent two female athletes to the London Olympics earlier this year, ending the Muslim country's record of sending only all-male teams to the Games.
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