The Saudi Cinderella

It’s been a while since I read the Arab News and I wanted to see what the Saudis wanted foreign Anglo readers to know about the haps in the country. I was riveted to this story as probably as much as the rest of the Kingdom is alleged to be.

DAMMAM, 21 November 2006 — One of the most talked-about Saudi women in the Kingdom currently resides in a prison in this port city on the Arabian Gulf.

Perhaps it would be more correct to call Fatima a refugee; she could walk out of the prison at any time if she returns to the custody of her family. But the woman in her early thirties who was forcibly divorced against her will from her husband says she will walk out of prison only when her requirement is met. “I’m leaving this place on one condition only: That I go back to my husband,” she said in an exclusive interview with Arab News from her jail cell where she has languished with her two young children since July.

In this highly publicized case that began early last year, a judge ruled in favor of Fatima’s family (led by efforts from two half brothers) who filed to divorce Fatima from her husband, Mansour Al-Timani, after they discovered that the man allegedly misled them about his tribal affiliation — a charge Mansour denies. By the time a judge in Jouf ruled the marriage void on July 20, 2005, the couple had been married for over three years and Fatima was pregnant with the couple’s second child. During the one-hour interview in the women’s prison, Fatima told Arab News about how she and Mansour moved from one place to another in order to escape and avoid harassment by her half brothers.

I have to own up to a little bit of culture shock. I have been making decisions for myself since I was about 17 or so I cannot imagine a world where my best interests where determined by someone other than myself - let alone two half-brothers. If I were to put myself in Fatima’s plight, I would willingly choose jail rather than subject myself to the alleged tender mercies of my two-half brothers.

This is prime example why it’s long past the time for a woman’s suffrage movement in the kingdom.