Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

Nadia and Wafa what
they called “fun.” They met foreign men, usually from neighboring
Arab countries, occasionally someone from Great Britain or America,
in parking lot elevators. They selected handsome men; men they felt
they could love. Sometimes the men became frightened and jumped
into the elevators, zooming to another floor. At other times they
would be interested. If the man they approached was intrigued, Wafa
and Nadia would agree to a meeting time, at the same elevator. They
would ask him to try and find a van, instead of a car, to pick them
up. Later, on the agreed date and time, the girls would pretend to
go shopping. Their driver would drop them at the souqs; they would
purchase a few items, and then go to the meeting place. Sometimes
the men would become wary and not show up; other times they would
be nervously waiting.
    If the men had obtained a van, the girls
would make sure no one was around and then jump quickly into the
back. The men would cautiously drive to their apartment and the
same degree of caution would be used to secrete the girls inside.
If they were caught, the sentence would be severe, quite possibly
death for everyone involved. The explanation for the van was clear.
In Saudi Arabia, men and women are not allowed in the same car
unless they are close relatives. If the mutawas become suspicious,
they will stop the vehicle and check identifications. Also, single
men are not allowed to entertain women in their apartments or
homes. At the slightest suspicion of impropriety, it is not
uncommon for mutawas to surround the home of a foreigner and take
everyone there, both male and female, to jail.
    I was fearful for my friends. I warned them
again and again of the consequences. They were young and reckless
and bored with their lives. They laughingly told me of other
activities they did for diversion. They dialed random phone numbers
until a foreign man would answer. Any man would do, so long as he
was not Saudi or Yemeni. They would ask him if he was alone and
lonely for female companionship. Generally, the reply was yes since
there are so few women allowed into Saudi Arabia and most foreign
men work there on single-status visas. Once a man’s eligibility was
established, the girls would ask him to describe his body.
Flattered, usually the man would graphically describe his body and
then ask them to do the same. Then Wafa and Nadia would portray
themselves from head to toe, in lewd detail. It was great
amusement, they said, and they sometimes met the man later, in the
same fashion as the parking lot lovers. I wondered how intimate my
friends became with these pick-up lovers. I was astonished to hear
that they did everything except penetration. They could not risk
losing their virginity, for they realized the consequences they
would face on their wedding night. Their husbands would return them
to their homes, and their fathers would turn them away as well. The
mutawas would investigate. They might lose their lives; if not,
they would still have nowhere to live.
    Wafa said that in their encounters with these
men, she and Nadia never removed their veils. They would take off
all their clothes but keep their veils intact. The men would tease
and beg and even try to force them to remove their veils, but the
girls said they felt safe so long as no man saw their faces. They
said if any of the men had become serious, they might have
considered exposing their faces. But, of course, none of them did.
They too were only having fun. My friends were desperately trying
to find an “out” from their future, which loomed before them like a
dark and endless night.
    Randa and I wept when we discussed our
friends’ behavior. I felt a hate for the customs of my land creep
into my throat like a foul taste. The absolute lack of control, of
freedom for our sex, drove young girls like Wafa and Nadia to
desperate acts. These were deeds that were sure to cost them their
lives if they were discovered. Before the year was over, Nadia and
Wafa were arrested. Unfortunately for them, members of a
self-proclaimed Public Morality Committee who roamed the streets of
Riyadh in an effort to apprehend people in acts prohibited by the
Koran had learned of their forbidden activities. Just as Nadia and
Wafa entered the back of a van, a carload of young Saudi zealots
wheeled in and blocked the vehicle. They had been watching the area
for weeks after one of the committee members, while at work,
overheard a Palestinian tell of two