[frereubu]

A female friend who's a paediatrician was being courted by the Saudi government to come and start a programme there. Women's health - including pregnancy and childbirth - was dreadful because all doctors were male but they weren't allowed to touch or even view women's naked bodies. Breast cancer survival rates were horrific too, and probably still are - this was only a few years ago.

The idea was to move there with her husband, who was an anaesthiologist. Despite loving him dearly and trusting him implicitly she turned down the financially lucrative offer when she discovered that any time she wanted to leave the country she'd have to have a letter signed by him giving his permission. The risk was low but the stakes were far too high.

[justboxing]

> when she discovered that any time she wanted to leave the country she'd have to have a letter signed by him giving his permission

Does this clause apply to visitors / non-native citizens / non-muslims also? I thought it only applied to native saudi's from that Saud[1] dude's bloodline.

Not trolling, really don't know.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Saud

[adetrest]

I have heard a similar thing from friends who played the expat game for a few years. They lived in a compound where they could live as they wanted (within reason: no pork, no porn, etc), but the moment they stepped outside, the wives and daughters had to be chaperoned by a family male (father/husband or brother), or have written permission, wear a hijab, and be driven around by the male driver their company provided. They made a ton of money, but it seriously fucked up their kids who still resent them (the kids were teenagers at the time, that's possibly the worst time to live in such a messed up place)

[frereubu]

That's what she said to me - she may have misinterpreted. There were other aspects of life in Saudi Arabia that she didn't like, so it wasn't her only consideration, but given that she thought it was the case it was a clear deal-breaker.