Saudi women – using Twitter accounts under pseudonyms – made use of an Arabic-language hashtag which roughly translates to "why I didn't report it" to make their allegations public.Posts revealed that women reporting abuse were referred by Saudi authorities to closed shelters, where they are trapped until they are forced to "reconcile" with family members or agree to an arranged marriage, the HRW found.According to the report, women attempting to escape an abusive household could face arrest and be sent back home if any male family members filed a legal claim.The watchdog said that a parallel hashtag, " down with remnants of the guardianship system " was also tweeted out by Saudi women.The tweets "point to persistent elements of the male guardianship system that continue to keep women trapped in abusive situations", it said.Read also:"Saudi authorities... have maintained a sweeping campaign of repression that included dismantling and silencing the country’s women’s rights movement," HRW wrote.The kingdom's campaigns targetting activists has not been limited to arrests and executions.

Saudi bots regularly storm Twitter when a controversial issue in the kingdom is brought to light by activists or international organisations. The latest HRW report was no exception.

Hundreds of accounts, characterised with nationalistic display photos and randomised usernames flooded comments in response to tweets sharing the report.

"Don't worry about a spoiled [girl] upset for not having a strawberry cake," one such tweet read, undermining the suffering of women alleging abuse.