Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Tuesday for ending restrictions on women's freedom of movement in the Middle East and North Africa.
Women often need permission from their male guardians - typically their father, brother or husband - to travel domestically or internationally or to apply for a passport, a HRW report released on Tuesday said.
"From leaving the home to leaving the country, authorities in the Middle East and North Africa are imposing varying restrictions on women's right to freedom of movement," said Rothna Begum, senior women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.
"Women in the region are fighting against restrictions that authorities often claim are for their protection, but in reality, deprive women of their rights and enable men to control and abuse them at will," she added.
Begum told dpa that the worst three countries on curbing freedom of women to travel abroad are Qatar, Yemen and Iran.
The 119-page HRW report said that in Iran, married women must show their husband's permission to obtain a passport and to travel.
"In Qatar, interior ministry rules require unmarried Qatari women under age 25 to show permission from their male guardians to travel abroad; while Qatari men from age 18 do not," the report stated.
"Yemen's de facto policy requires Yemeni women to show their male guardian's permission to obtain a passport," the report said.
According to HRW. 15 countries in the region still apply laws that require women to either "obey" their husbands or to obtain permission to leave home, work, or travel.
The report added that in some areas of conflict, such as Yemen and Syria, some armed groups have required women to be accompanied by a " (husband or other close male relative) in their movements.
"All authorities in the Middle East and North Africa should eliminate any and all discriminatory restrictions on women's freedom of movement including all male guardianship rules," the report said.
