Story highlights Activists want equal rights for women

Campaign sparked by a report in July by Human Rights Watch

(CNN) Saudi Arabian women's rights campaigners are calling for an end to the country's male guardianship system by sending telegrams and a petition to King Salman this week.

The campaigners, who are organizing on social media, want to stop the system whereby every Saudi woman is governed by a male guardian who provides permission for travel, marriage, and sometimes work or access health care.

"We want women over 18 or 20 to be treated as adults," Saudi human rights campaigner Aziza Al-Yousef told CNN, "to be responsible for their own acts and allowed to make their own decisions."

Activist Aziza Al-Yousef brings a petition opposing male guardianship system to the Royal Court in Riyadh

Petitions and telegrams

On Sunday, activists flooded social media with instructions on how to send a telegram to the king.

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