Riyadh

“It’s suffocating. I’d rather kill myself than live with it. I hold on to the smallest hope I have that someday this will change.” — H41, 19

Riyadh

The System Works for Some

“Saudi women have accomplished so much but do not advertise it. There is a long history of women that have worked tirelessly to help the society and build up the country.” — HAIFA, 28

New York and Riyadh

“I need my father’s or my husband’s permission to travel outside the kingdom, and this is O.K. for me, as I need them to know where I am, especially with the current status of events in the world.” — DUJANAH MOUSA, 56

a doctor in Riyadh

“I have lived for a while in the West, and I found that the life of a woman is very difficult, for she has to bear heavy burdens that only a man can undertake. Whereas in our country, the man provides all forms of comfort for the woman.” — AFNAN, 30

Riyadh

“When will the international media stop interfering in the affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and of its women and men and children?”

— MIMI, 29

Jidda

A Future in Guardians’ Hands

“I’ve had to give up on a number of educational opportunities because he (my guardian) didn’t think a doctor needed a cultural exchange program or a symposium he didn’t understand. I’ve been trying to have him let me marry the man I love for the past two years.

“I’m in charge of people’s lives every day, but I can’t have my own life the way I want.” — A. M., 30