Top 6 Nations Where Women Still Need a Man's Permission to Travel

The Hidden Reality of Women's Travel Restrictions in 2025

Imagine needing to ask your father, husband, or brother for permission just to cross international borders. For millions of women around the world, this isn't some distant historical practice – it's their daily reality in 2025.

While many countries have lifted these restrictions in recent years, several nations continue to enforce male guardianship laws that control women's movement. Women across the Middle East and North Africa region face varying restrictions preventing them from moving freely in their own country and from traveling abroad without the permission of their male guardians—typically their fathers or brothers, and when married, their husbands.

In Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, and Yemen there are the most stringent regulations, and sometimes even obtaining a passport or a permit to travel abroad depends on a male guardian or from a court. These restrictions don't just limit vacation plans – they trap women in dangerous situations and devastate entire economies.

Afghanistan: Where Taliban Rules Erased Women's Freedom

In August, the Taliban announced a new law on promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, which prohibits women from traveling or using public transportation without a male guardian. Afghanistan stands as the most extreme example of women's travel restrictions in 2025.

A decree from December 2021 mandates that women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling more than 77 kilometers from home. However, in some parts of the country women are expected to travel with a male guardian when traveling much shorter distances and can be interrogated and harassed at checkpoints when traveling alone.

There are no official laws about male guardianship in Afghanistan, but the Taliban have said women cannot move around or travel a certain distance without a man who is related to her by blood or marriage. The situation has become so dire that In Paktia province, the Vice and Virtue Ministry has stopped women without mahrams from accessing health facilities since December.

This systematic erasure of women's mobility represents one of the world's most severe restrictions on basic human rights.

Yemen: War-Torn Nation's Escalating Restrictions

Yemen presents a complex picture where multiple authorities impose overlapping restrictions on women's travel. The authorities are barring women from traveling between governorates, and in some cases from travel abroad, without a male guardian's permission or being accompanied by an immediate male relative.

Houthi authorities have drastically expanded restrictions against women's movement in their territories since taking control of Sanaa, the capital, and much of northern Yemen in the last nine years. Houthis have increasingly restricted women's freedom of movement and imposed a strict policy requiring women to travel with a male relative (mahram) or to provide written approval from their male guardian allowing them to travel, a policy that had not existed before.

In the south, even though there is no official guidance banning women from traveling alone between governorates, women have reported being stopped at Yemeni government and STC's checkpoints for several hours, and sometimes forced to turn around. The restrictions have created a nightmare for humanitarian workers, with another aid worker said.

"If women have to travel without a mahram, they are detained at checkpoints and kept until a male guardian arrives," This has effectively crippled aid operations in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Iran: Decades-Old Laws Still Controlling Women's Lives

Iran maintains some of the most systematic travel restrictions for women, rooted in decades-old legislation. Under the Passports Law, a married woman may not obtain a passport or travel outside the country without the written permission of her husband, who can revoke such permission at any time.

Women over the age of 18 need the written consent of their father or guardian to obtain a passport. Married women must receive their husband's approval to receive the documents.

The system has created devastating personal stories, with one woman sharing how After four hard months both for her and the children, for the sake of their young daughter, her husband finally granted travel permission and Parisa could go back home. Even prominent female athletes have been affected, as Niloufar Ardalan, a footballer for the women's national team who wasn't able to leave Iran to play in the Asian Championship in 2015 because her husband wouldn't allow her to renew her passport and travel.

And she mentions Zahra Nemati, an Iranian Paralympic and Olympic archer who competed in Rio 2016, but before that was banned by her husband from leaving the country for the 2015 games.

Qatar: The Gulf's Last Holdout

Despite Qatar's modernization efforts and hosting of the 2022 World Cup, the country remains the only remaining country in the Gulf region which continues to require male guardianship for women's travel. Interior ministry rules require unmarried Qatari women under 25 to show male guardian permission to travel abroad while Qatari men can travel without such permission from age 18.

Male guardians can apply to issue travel bans on their female relatives or wives. The system has led to dramatic escape attempts, as documented by On November 12, 2019, Noof secretly took her father's phone, tapped the government's Metrash app and processed the exit permit that would allow her to leave the country.

In 2020, airport officials stopped some women traveling without a male relative and insisted on calling their male guardian to prove that they were not "escaping." The authorities Qatar's restrictions extend beyond travel, creating what one woman described as being "constantly in quarantine" in their daily lives.

Saudi Arabia: Reforms and Remaining Restrictions

Saudi Arabia has made significant progress in recent years, with The amendments deleted article 28, which stated that Saudi women's travel abroad must be in accordance with "applicable instructions." This article formed the legal basis for requiring a male guardian's permission for a woman to travel abroad, including those over 21. However, challenges remain in practice.

In 2019, it highlighted how the government's Absher app, which citizens need to use for renewing passports and paying traffic tickets, has a travel log, viewable by male guardians who can then give or deny permission remotely for their female "charges" to travel abroad or obtain a passport. However, an investigation by The Guardian newspaper in 2025 found that the Dar al-Reaya, officially "care homes", continued to be effectively "jails" for women whose families wish to institutionalize them for disobedience, extramarital sexual relations or being absent from home.

While the legal framework has improved, social enforcement and unofficial restrictions continue to limit women's freedom of movement.

Kuwait: Where Legal Changes Haven't Eliminated All Barriers

Kuwait presents a nuanced case where official policies have evolved but practical restrictions persist. In Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, male guardians and other family members can also report women to the police for being "absent" from their homes, which can lead to their arrest and forcible return home or administrative detention.

The country has made progress in some areas – Kuwaiti women gained the right to travel without a guardian's permission in 2009. However, implementation remains inconsistent, and women still face challenges when trying to exercise these rights.

Fifteen countries in the region still apply personal status or family laws that require women to either "obey" their husbands, live with them, or seek their permission to leave the marital home, work, or travel. This creates a gap between legal rights and lived reality for many Kuwaiti women.

The persistence of male guardianship travel restrictions in these six nations reveals a troubling reality: in 2025, millions of women still cannot cross borders without a man's permission. These aren't just inconvenient bureaucratic requirements – they're systematic barriers that trap women in abusive relationships, limit their economic opportunities, and violate their fundamental human rights.

What makes these restrictions even more shocking is how they continue to exist despite international pressure and the clear evidence of their devastating impact on women's lives and entire societies.

Get more from Travelbucketlist!

What do you think about this topic? Share your thoughts in the comments below — we would love to hear from you! Want more stories like this? Follow us and never miss out!