Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 56
How happy I was that neither of my daughters had ever known the pain of abuse. But there were four previously abused women around my table, and all were happy to express their emotions and their misfortunes, yet the evening did not feel burdened with woe or tortured by memories.
The historic events that had affected Saudi women since the beginning of time were suddenly enlivening our lives. We have lived through the turmoil and troubles of our male-dominated society, and we have long contemplated the day when there would be a female revolution – like a volcanic eruption. Still, we love our homes and love many in our families, and we will continue to try to navigate the difficult terrain that sometimes threatens to upset our lives. Like a complex tapestry with many threads, Saudi life and history are still entwined as we move further into the twenty-first century. As our knowledge grows, we will wash away the bad and keep the good.
For me, the courageous and divine women in my garden reminded me of a sprinkling of stars that would light the way for generations of Saudi women to come.
Chapter Nine
Before I Go
TWO WEEKS AFTER the most divine gathering of women in my garden, I was alone without family for one of the few times in my life. Kareem was out of the country for a week, my sister Sara was in Kuwait with Assad visiting a good friend, Maha was in Dubai, Amani was resting in bed with a cold, and Abdullah was at home, refusing to leave Zain for even a moment. Her due date was drawing near, although her physician had warned that when twins were waiting to come into the world, there was no possible way to predict exactly the day and hour of their arrival.
Although alone, I was not lonely because my active mind was good company. There had been some unexpectedly pleasant news, worthy of a second gathering at my home with my friends and family – one that would enable us to celebrate something positive for a change.
With the assistance of Sara and Assad, we heard that Dalal had been granted a very fast divorce and was at last enjoying new-found freedom. Although divorces in Saudi Arabia are difficult to achieve for the wife, if the husband does not disagree with her request, the divorce can be given in minutes – all the husband has to do is say ‘I divorce you’ three times in a row, then notify the clerics and courts. If the husband does not agree, generally it is a lost cause for the wife, but in this case, when Dalal’s husband heard that she was going to broadcast to the entire family her complaints about his character and habits, he quickly agreed to a divorce, saying those greatly desired words, ‘I divorce you’, three times.
Dalal now had finally escaped from a man few women would desire and was taking a lengthy holiday in California.
Sara had recently informed me that Nona’s situation had improved after a true nightmare. Nona had already been divorced by her husband – the poor girl had become so distraught by endless rapes by the stranger she had married that she required psychiatric care. For men who have a brutish and bullying nature, it appears that the power of being able to force a young woman to have sex is a most satisfying experience for them. But as Nona withdrew into a silent world, sitting without eating and staring without speaking, her husband showed that not only was he cruel but also ignorant. Her persecutor truly believed that Nona’s mental problems were contagious and he might be in danger of contracting her sickness.
Surprisingly, this is not unusual in the Arab world, for there is little understanding of psychological problems created by traumatic personal circumstances. Fortunately, though, her condition meant that Nona had been divorced. Less fortunate for her, however, her divorce meant that she had to return to her family home, where her father almost instantly resumed his illicit relations with her, his own daughter.
Sabrina told her mother that she had secretly slipped into Nona’s home on a day when her father was working and that she did not recognize her friend. Sabrina reported that Nona’s lifeless, glassy eyes stared straight ahead. Her once chatty and bubbly personality had been silenced. Her once pretty face was shallow and grey. Her body was so malnourished that Nona seemed lost in her clothes; they merely hung from her frail body.
Hearing this horrific news, Sara and Assad made an unsolicited visit to Nona’s mother and found that she was eager to help her daughter. She agreed for Sara and Assad to arrange for Nona to be admitted into a private facility that discreetly treats the mentally traumatized. She would tell her husband that Nona had escaped from the house and could not be found. Aware of her husband’s abusive behaviour towards her daughter, she also knew that she would pay for Nona’s absence, for her husband would almost certainly blame his wife and beat her severely.
Tearfully Nona’s mother explained, ‘I have endured many beatings by my husband. I can endure one more if it saves my daughter.’ Perhaps most worryingly the physician in charge had not questioned Assad’s story that Nona was a victim of rape by her father, who had abandoned the family and wanted no further contact with his daughter. This, of course, was a false story told to keep authorities from getting involved and insisting upon returning Nona to her guardian.
Sara and Assad were also attempting to arrange asylum for Nona in a northern European country where requirements for entry were less strict since Nona’s father