Brothers Make The Best Mehram

Photo by SUSRIS

Saudi women need the permission of a mehram, or male guardian, for basic activities like work or travel.

"Women cannot do anything. She cannot study, she cannot work, she cannot marry, she cannot get a divorce. It's a long list. You cannot move from the house, you cannot get medical care without a man's permission.

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Under the Saudi system a woman's male guardian can be her husband, brother or son. In Al Huwaider's case, her guardian is her 17-year-old son.

"He's the one in charge of my life, he's the one who has the control if I want to travel … even if I want to have surgery I have to get a permission from him," she said.

Al Huwaider says the general consensus among Saudi women is that sons are the worst male guardians because "they feel they own their mothers." Brothers, she says, make the best male guardians. Husbands fall somewhere in between.