Mick Hartley

Married life in Saudi Arabia:

For 30-year-old housewife Marwa, imprisonment starts every day when her husband goes to work. He keeps her locked inside. Marwa says she doesn’t even have an escape route, which would be tragic in the event of a fire.

“My husband says he’s worried I might be fooled by some thieves into opening the door,” she said. “He says it’s for my own safety.”

According to Saudi Civil Defense spokesman Gen. Tamer Al-Harthy, this is not a unique situation. “Every months we encounter two or three cases where there are people locked inside a house,” he said.

“These people can’t escape even through the window because most homes have iron security bars.”

In case of a fire even a minute’s delay could be the difference between life and death, said the Civil Defense spokesman. “We urge against locking family or servants inside the homes.”

Umm Adnan, another housewife, says she too is locked in her house with the children.

She says that if the kids get hungry and there’s no food in the house, she resorts to asking a neighbor to pass food from an adjoining window to the next-door flat.

“I can’t keep the kids hungry till their father returns from work,” she said.

“My neighbor kindly always passes to me from the window whatever I need, I feel ridiculous sometimes, but I can’t convince my husband otherwise, he says that this is for my and our children’s safety.”

Umm Adnan says that while she disagrees with this domestic policy, she consents to it.

“I’ve tried to convince my husband that there could be a fire, or the kids might get sick, but he doesn’t listen,” said Umm Adnan.

“I don’t want to fight with him, so I agree.”