The campaign calls on supporters all over the world to tie a black ribbon around their wrist signifying a call for Saudi women to be given equal rights to men and an end to the male guardianship system, in which Saudi women are represented by men in all public and official spheres of life.


Earlier this week, Saudi's grand mufti said that wearing Western-style graduation gowns was forbidden. "Wearing graduation gowns is haram (forbidden by Islamic law) because apparently it is part of the infidels' rituals and customs that no God-fearing Muslim should ever imitate or even consider getting near them," wrote Ahmed Al-Omran, an influential Saudi blogger. "The Grand Mufti, of course, does not use the cars invented and manufactured by the aforementioned infidels. He also does not appear on TV or use a mobile phone, because these, too, are invented and made by those nasty infidels."