Life for Saudi women

Ken Sutherland's ill-informed letter of Jan. 21 tells me he knows little about the life of women in Saudi Arabia. 

I lived there for nine years. Because of my work, I also got to meet and get to know some of the Saudi women.

I worked at a military hospital and taught at a college. I remain friends with a good number of them. Thanks to social media and the internet, we communicate regularly .

For nine years, I watched as women were obligated to walk behind their husbands. I heard stories of how after getting married and having children, they would find out that their husband is taking a "younger second wife."

Imagine going to school and obtaining a degree in nursing but knowing that once you graduated you were to be married off and never get to practise your chosen profession.

Without permission, they cannot travel outside of the country by themselves. They have just started to drive there. They cannot mingle or interact with men outside of their family. If shopping by themselves, they risk getting hounded by the religious affairs police.

If you are a younger Saudi woman who has an opinion, is strong minded and has a desire to be free to choose her own life, I welcome that.

If all Canadians were as ambitious as the young lady given asylum in Canada, there were would fewer social problems. She risked it all to leave her birth country. Chances are she is unable to return.  

Saudi women who were colleagues of mine have chosen to remain single and unmarried rather than be somebody's property. 

David Wood, Kelowna