Kuwaiti women will be able to obtain their own passport without the consent of their husbands, following a ruling by the country's constitutional court. The court, whose decisions are final, said the previous requirement was in violation of guarantees of freedom and gender equality in the constitution. The decision came about when a woman complained her husband had prevented her from leaving the country. The article abolished by the court dated back to Kuwait's 1962 passport law which required a husband's signature on a woman's passport application. Women activists welcomed the passport ruling but say they still need equal access to government housing and the right to pass citizenship to their children.