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A young woman from Saudi Arabia who fled to Canada, has been abused and shamed after she shared before and now photos to celebrate her freedom from “being forced to wear black sheets”.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun moved to Canada following her escape from Saudi Arabia (read here). Afterwards, she went online to share an old image of herself in a niqab and another where she was wearing a bikini.
She captioned the photo: “The biggest change in my life.. from being forced to wear black sheets and being controlled by men to being a free woman.”
Her post earned her criticisms from Twitter users in her native country. They called her out for making herself “naked.”
One Twitter user said: “I really feel sad for people like you, Saudi woman are living in happiness, they are living a normal live they drive, go malls and now they travel alone, plus our prophet Muhammad said that women and men are equal.”
Another said: “I was checking her previous posts and got to know that she literally got all this fame because she threw hijab away and started clothing like in the second picture.”
Qunun fled Saudi Arabia in January 2019 and barricaded herself in her hotel, saying she was escaping abuse from her family. She escaped her family while they were visiting Kuwait then flew to Bangkok. She was denied entry by immigration police and her passport was seized. She then took her case to social media, sparking the hashtag #SaveRahaf, and posted video of herself using a table to block the door to her hotel room.
She also renounced Islam and declared herself an atheist, saying: “Physical, emotional and verbal abuse and being imprisoned inside the house for months. They threaten to kill me and prevent me from continuing my education. They won’t let me drive or travel. I am oppressed. I love life and work and I am very ambitious but my family is preventing me from living.”
As a result of her campaign, she was given UN protection and she chose to fly to Canada after being granted asylum there.
