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SAUDI ARABIA - LAUNCH OF FIRST ANTI-DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CAMPAIGN

"Some things cannot be covered. Fighting women's abuse together." Image taken from the campaign by the King Khalid Charitable Foundation.

28 April 2013 - Saudi Arabia has released its first ever anti-domestic abuse advert with a chilling picture of a veiled woman whose eye is clearly bruised and bloodshot.

The campaign, which received the backing of the King Khalid Charitable Foundation, carries the slogan: ‘Some things can’t be covered - fighting women’s abuse together’.

It encourages Saudis to report cases of domestic violence, adding: “The phenomenon of battered women in Saudi Arabia is much greater than apparent.”

IMPROVING WOMEN'S RIGHTS

The campaign is another indication of the kingdom’s attempts to improve women’s rights in the country, which operates under the ultra conservative form of Islam known as Wahhabism.

Women are still banned from driving or travelling freely on their own out of the country without being accompanied by a male relative. But in contrast, King Abdullah swore in 30 women, in February, onto the previously male-only Shura council.

The monarch has also granted women the right to vote and stand in the next municipal elections, scheduled for 2015. It has also been announced that women will be allowed to practice law professionally.