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‘Heightened scrutiny of all things Saudi, in my opinion, is a good thing; the west has cozied up to Saudi Arabia for far too long.’
‘Heightened scrutiny of all things Saudi, in my opinion, is a good thing; the west has cozied up to Saudi Arabia for far too long.’ Photograph: Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters
‘Heightened scrutiny of all things Saudi, in my opinion, is a good thing; the west has cozied up to Saudi Arabia for far too long.’ Photograph: Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters

Calls to ban the Saudi 'wife-tracking' app could be counterproductive

This article is more than 5 years old
Arwa Mahdawi

While Absher is awful, having it removed will further restrict women. Let’s not let politicians off the hook for their complicity in how Saudi women are treated

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Calls to ban the Saudi Arabian ‘wife-tracking’ app miss the point

Want to control where and when your wife can travel? There’s an app for that! Over the past week Apple and Google have been criticized for carrying a Saudi government app called Absher that lets men restrict the movements of women under their guardianship. Men can choose to get text alerts when their wife or a female relative goes through an airport, and can revoke the woman’s right to travel with a few easy clicks. Apple and Google have both said they will look into whether the app violates their policies and should be pulled from their app stores.

Of course, Absher isn’t the real problem here. The problem is Saudi Arabia’s abhorrent male guardianship system under which women are treated as minors and need permission from a man to do everything from renting an apartment to accessing healthcare. However, digital tools like Absher make it easier for men to apply these repressive laws.

On Monday, Democratic senator Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote a letter to Apple and Google stating that American companies shouldn’t enable or “facilitate the Saudi government’s patriarchy … [you] are making it easier for Saudi men to control their family members from the convenience of their smartphones and restrict their movements.”

On Wednesday the Democratic party caucus’s vice-chair, Massachusetts representative Katherine Clark, similarly tweeted: “Absher is a patriarchal weapon … #Apple and #Google must stop facilitating this dangerous tool of control.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think Absher is awful and I’m glad that Saudi Arabia’s repressive gender laws are getting coverage. However some of the kneejerk outrage about what has been dubbed the “wife-tracking app” lacks nuance and could end up being counterproductive. Mona Eltahawy, a prominent Egyptian American feminist, tweeted a message from a Saudi woman explaining that while Absher is awful, having it removed will further restrict women. Before it came along, she said, granting travel restrictions was burdensome so guardians would use that as excuse to keep women at home.

Noura Altamimi, a Saudi woman who works at the Arabia Foundation in Washington DC, gave me similar feedback. “In some instances, Absher can make it easier for Saudi women to navigate male guardianship law,” she told me over Twitter direct message. “It allows guardians to completely waive travel restrictions, permitting women to travel without a guardian or guardian’s approval in every instance. The focus ought to be on the restrictive laws, not the interface. In fact, the app has been available since 2015, but is only now getting attention because of the heightened scrutiny surrounding all things Saudi.”

Heightened scrutiny of all things Saudi, in my opinion, is a good thing; the west has cozied up to Saudi Arabia for far too long, ignoring egregious human rights violations because the kingdom was a profitable ally. While Apple and Google may be facilitating guardianship laws by carrying the Absher app, this is nothing compared to how western governments have enabled the kingdom’s repressive leaders for decades. So it feels more than a little hypocritical for politicians to be outraged about an app when both Democrats and Republicans have a long history of ignoring gender apartheid in Saudi Arabia. By all means let’s put pressure on Apple and Google to think more carefully about the impact of the apps they carry, but let’s not let politicians off the hook for their complicity in how Saudi Arabia’s women are treated.

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