A Saudi woman's plea for help exposes risks runaways face
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A young Saudi woman's plea for help after she was stopped in an airport in the Philippines en route to Australia where she planned to seek asylum has triggered a firestorm on social media and drawn attention to the plight of female runaways.
For runaway Saudi women, fleeing can be a matter of life and death, and they are almost always doing so to escape male relatives. Under Saudi Arabia's conservative interpretation of Islamic law, a male guardianship system bars women from traveling abroad, obtaining a passport, marrying or even leaving prison without the consent of a male relative.
The mystery around what triggered Dina Ali Lasloom's cry for help has only added to concerns for her safety. In an online video, the 24-year-old says her passport was taken from her at an airport in the Philippines on her way to Australia last week.
