‘BORN AGAIN’

Saudi Teen Who Fled Homeland: ‘There Will Be a Lot More Women Running Away’

“I hope my story prompts a change to the law,” said Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun.

A Saudi teenager who was taken in as a refugee in Canada after fleeing abuse back home said she believes her experience will prompt other women to escape Saudi Arabia. “I think the number of women fleeing from the Saudi administration and abuse will increase, especially since there is no system to stop them,” Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. in Toronto. “I’m sure that there will be a lot more women running away. I hope my story encourages other women to be brave and free. I hope my story prompts a change to the law, especially as it’s been exposed to the world. This might be the agent for change.” Al-Qunun made international headlines last week when she barricaded herself inside a Bangkok hotel room to fight what she described as a Saudi plot to have her involuntarily repatriated. She pleaded on Twitter for Western governments to intervene and grant her asylum, saying she’d face certain death back home from abusive male family members. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday that Canada would accept Al-Qunun as a refugee, and she arrived there over the weekend, where she said she felt “like I was born again.”

She’s Hip (Hop)

Kamala Harris’ Playlist: Yes, It’s Political, But It’s Smart

Barrett Holmes Pitner