Women in Saudi Arabia seemed to finally be getting a voice with the inauguration of a girls’ council in al-Qassim province.

Except for the fact that pictures released to mark the first council meeting on Saturday showed no women but 13 men on stage.

The women were apparently in another room, linked via video.

The male-dominated photos have been circulating widely on social media and have been compared to an image of US President Donald Trump, surrounded by men, signing an anti-abortion policy in January.

The Saudi launch was led by Prince Faisal bin Mishal bin Saud, the province's governor, who said he was proud of the conference and it was the first of its kind in the kingdom.

The council is chaired by Princess Abir bint Salman, his wife, who was not in the photograph.

In Saudi Arabia, a state policy of gender segregation between unrelated men and women is rigorously enforced.

However, it aims to increase women's participation in the workforce from 22% to 30%.

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