This photo shows the Absher App on a phone in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, March 7, 2019. The Saudi government app is mostly a way for people to pay traffic fines and complete other administrative tasks electronically. But one feature isn’t sitting well with civil-rights advocates: the ability for men to grant or deny a woman permission to travel. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
TBILISI: Two runaway Saudi sisters on April 24 urged Apple and Google to pull an “inhuman” app allowing men to monitor and control female relatives’ travel as it helped trap girls in abusive families.
Maha and Wafa al-Subaie, who are seeking asylum in Georgia after fleeing their family, said Absher – a government e-services app – was bad for women as it supported Saudi Arabia’s strict male guardian system.
Win a prize this Mother's Day by subscribing to our annual plan now! T&C applies.
