Saudi activist demands government treat women 'like mature citizens'

From Mohammed Jamjoom and Tricia Escobedo

CNN

(CNN) - Wajeha al-Huwaider picked up her passport, got in a taxi, and headed from her home in eastern Saudi Arabia to the nearby island kingdom of Bahrain - a 45-minute drive that many Saudis take to get away for the weekend.

Despite having a valid passport, Saudi authorities at the border sent al-Huwaider home. That's because in Saudi Arabia, a woman needs permission from her male guardian before she can leave the country.

Al-Huwaider - a vocal women's rights activist in Saudi Arabia - knew before she left that she would be turned away at the border. Her attempted trip was simply to make a point about the Saudi guardianship system that she says "controls all aspects of women's lives."

"Either you treat us like mature citizens or let us leave the country (permanently)," she told CNN.

She's urging all Saudi women who are tired of "being oppressed" to go "to any border and try to cross it without permission from their male relative."

She wants to end Saudi Arabia's strict guardianship laws in which women must get permission from their husband, father, or closest male relative before doing the most mundane of tasks - including working outside the home, going to school, maintaining a bank account, or leaving the country for a weekend getaway.