Women are trying to escape Saudi Arabia, but not all of them make it

Many Saudi women are wealthy, well-educated and told they have everything, but when they disobey their male guardians, life can be more like a Handmaid’s Tale dystopia.

By the time she was 14, Nourah* was thinking about escape. The young Saudi woman was on Twitter watching the Arab Spring unfold across the Middle East, bringing hopes for freedom.

For Shahad, life in Saudi included constant beatings from her father. When she complained to her mother about the abuse, her father beat them both.

“It wasn’t just for those people, it wasn’t just for those countries. For me as a young woman, that made a lot of difference and I decided when I was 14, I’m going to leave this country,” she said.

Nourah’s life was controlled by men.

Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship laws mean women need permission from their guardian — a father, brother, husband, son or uncle — for the most basic activities. They can’t travel, go to school, get a job or marry without permission. Under Saudi law, their witness statements carry half the weight of a man’s.

“Any male from my family can control my life in any way. He can make the big decisions in my life including my partner, the future of my education, even if I went to hospital he had to sign for me,” Nourah said. Read more…