American woman trapped in Saudi Arabia after divorcing husband

An American woman who divorced her Saudi husband is trapped in the country under the kingdom's repressive guardianship laws, with her bank accounts frozen and no recourse to justice.

Bethany Vierra, from Washington State, moved to Saudi Arabia in 2011 for a teaching job and married a Saudi businessman with whom she had a daughter.

After they divorced, her ex-husband remained as her sponsor for residency, but denied both child and mother permission to leave the country to visit Vierra's family.

In February, he deliberately allowed her residency to expire, making her presence in Saudi Arabia illegal. Without valid residency, Vierra cannot travel, access her bank accounts, go to the police, or pay her business employees.

"She is completely stuck," her cousin Nicole Carroll told the New York Times. "She is out of options."

Women in her position can obtain residency under a new law for being the parent of a Saudi citizen, but only her husband can provide the documents to complete the procedure, and he refuses to do so.

Under the male guardianship system, a man controls a Saudi woman's life from her birth until her death.

Every Saudi woman must have a male guardian, normally a father or husband, but in some cases a brother or even a son, who has the power to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf.

The Saudi state essentially treats women as permanent legal minors. These laws extend to foreign women who marry Saudis.

Fleeing the kingdom

Vierra's daughter Zaina is a dual Saudi-American citizen, but she is only recognised as a Saudi national by authorities. If Vierra were to find a way to leave the country, Zaina could not travel with her unless her father granted permission.

Even the US State Department is unable to obtain exit visas for children without their guardian's permission.

"She has no recourse," Carroll told the New York Times.

"Everyone keeps asking: 'What next? What next?' But there is no what next."

Saudi Arabia's repressive guardianship system hit the headlines earlier this year following the high-profile case of Rahaf Mohammed, a Saudi teenager who fled the kingdom and found asylum in Canada after a weeks' long ordeal in Thai limbo.

Her ordeal also drew attention to a Saudi government app that allows males to restrict the freedom of their female dependents.

The app, called Absher ("Good Tidings" in Arabic), has been in operation by the kingdom's interior ministry for a few years.

It allows users to manage passports, vehicle registration and parking tickets but also has more sinister features that track women's movement and restrict their ability to leave the country.