The 18-year-old girl who fled the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after rejecting its strict Islamic laws, stepped out on Tuesday showing she's wasting no time in taking advantage of her new freedom in Canada.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun - who revealed she had dropped her last name connecting her to her Saudi governor father - bared her legs in a gray sweater dress that stopped at the knee - an outfit that's far more revealing than custom allows in her homeland.
And not only did she ditch the abaya robe, but the teenager also opted not to wear the traditional hijab or niqab covering for her face and head.
She showed off her straightened bob hair style as she walked into the room full of media in a pair of shiny black ankle boots with studded embellishments.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun speaks at the COSTI Corvetti Education Centre today in Toronto, Ontario without wearing the traditional Saudi dress for women
Ms al-Qunun was greeted by journalists as she walked into the education centre in Toronto to give a talk while wearing a gray sweater dress that showed off her knees
She arrived in Toronto on Saturday after the country granted her asylum on the advice of the United Nations' refugee agency.
But it has since emerged that the teen has received multiple threats online that have made her fear for her safety and she is now being given round-the-clock security.
That's according to Mario Calla, executive director of Costi Immigration Services, a refugee agency contracted by the Canadian government to help her settle in Toronto.
Calla said: 'It's hard to say how serious these threats are. We're taking them seriously.'
Costi has hired a security guard and plans to 'make sure she is never alone.'
'She sees these threats,' he said. 'She has left Islam and she basically has broken away from her family, and that scares her. Her emotions go back and forth.'
Mario Calla (right), executive director of Costi Immigration Services, a refugee agency contracted by the Canadian government to help her settle in Toronto
She said she wants to help other women flee Saudi Arabia as it's revealed she'll have round-the-clock security
Rahaf Mohammed, 18, addresses the media with the help of translator Saba Abbas (right)
When asked why she had fled her homeland, Ms al-Qunun (seen during her talk today) replied: 'I wanted to be free from abuse and depression'
'What's new about this is the role of social media that it played in getting the attention she received,' he said.
In her first weekend in Canada the young woman immediately got winter clothes and phone service.
Calla said she has completed high school and had expressed interest in taking civil engineering in university.
"But maybe there's a future in politics for her," Calla said. "She certainly has been handling all this pressure very well."
Ms al-Qunun has nine siblings. She used a loophole in the state's tough laws to travel to Kuwait unaccompanied. Women from the country are usually have to have a male guardian make decisions for them.
From there, she purchased a ticket to Bangkok and was hoping to seek asylum in Canada, the United States, Australia, the UK or 'any nation would protect her from being harmed or killed by her family'.
Before: The teenager, pictured with her 12-year-old sister, said it had upset her that her family had announced they had disowned her 'simply because I wanted to escape their abuse'
New style: Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, has begun adapting to life in Canada after being granted asylum, with a photo showing her all bundled up in a winter jacket and woolly hat
Instead, her passport was seized by a Saudi diplomat and she was forced to lock herself in an apartment room.
She says she spent months planning her escape before implementing her dangerous plan on January 5.
She barricaded herself in an airport hotel room where her social media campaign got enough public and diplomatic support that Thai officials admitted her temporarily under the protection of U.N. officials, who granted her refugee status Wednesday.
'What's new about this is the role of social media that it played in getting the attention she received,' Calla said.
In her first weekend in Canada the young woman immediately got winter clothes and phone service. Calla said she has completed high school and had expressed interest in taking civil engineering in university.
'But maybe there's a future in politics for her,' Calla said. 'She certainly has been handling all this pressure very well.'
In a television interview, she spoke of finally being 'free' from abuse by both the Saudi state and her family, after being granted asylum by Canada
Ms al-Qunun said in an Australian television interview that she expected her experience would inspire other women to flee her homeland
The Saudi teen revealed that once she learned she'd be relocating to Canada 'the stress that I felt over the last week melted away'.
It has inspired her to work to help others in a similar position.
'Today and for years to come, I will work in support of freedom for women around the world,' she said in the statement read by Saba Abbas. 'The same freedom I experienced on the first day I arrived in Canada.
'I understand that everyone here and around the world wishes me well and would like to continue to hear about how I am doing, but ... I would like to start living a normal private life, just like any other young woman living in Canada.'
She thanked the Canadian and Thai governments and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for making her move to Canada possible.
'I am one of the lucky ones,' she continued. 'I know that there are unlucky women who disappeared after trying to escape or who could not do anything to change their reality.'
She added that women in KSA 'can't be independent and they need the approval of their male guardian for everything. Any woman who thinks of escaping, or escapes, will be at risk of persecution'.
Ms al-Qunun spoke of finally being 'free' from abuse and oppression by both the Saudi government and her own family, but admitted that her parents announcing they have disowned her had upset her.
'How could my family disown me simply because I wanted to be independent and escape their abuse? It really upset me,' she said.
Safe arrival: The teenager arrived in Canada this weekend, after fleeing her home country earlier this month - allegedly to escape her abusive family
Ms al-Qunun, accompanied by Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, right, and Saba Abbas, general counsellor of COSTI refugee service agency, left, arrives at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Ontario
Ms al-Qunun walks through sliding doors as she beams alongside officials at Toronto Pearson
When asked why she had fled her homeland, Ms al-Qunun replied: 'I wanted to be free from abuse and depression. I wanted to be independent. I wouldn't be able to marry the person I wanted to. I couldn't get a job without permission.'
Ms al-Qunun said her situation has highlighted the cause of women's rights in Saudi Arabia, where several women fleeing abuse by their families have been caught trying to seek asylum abroad in recent years and returned home.
'I think the number of women fleeing from the Saudi administration and abuse will increase, especially since there is no system to stop them,' Ms al Qunun told Australian Broadcasting Corp. in an interview.
'I'm sure that there will be a lot more women running away. I hope my story encourages other women to be brave and free. I hope my story prompts a change to the law, especially as it's been exposed to the world. This might be the agent for change,' she added.
Ms al-Qunun said she felt 'like I was born again' when she was met at Toronto airport on Saturday by Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.
'It was something amazing. There was a lot of love and hospitality, especially when the minister welcomed me and told me I was in a safe country and had all my rights,' Alqunun said.
From her personal Twitter account, al-Qunun thanked everyone for their support, saying she had never 'dreamed of this love'
Al-Qunun shared photos to Twitter from her flight to Toronto, showing her relaxing in first class with wine and her legs up
Almost there: Rahaf Mohammed holds a mobile phone in Bangkok, Thailand last Friday
This handout photo released and taken by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on January 11, 2019 shows Rahaf Mohammed before her departure for Canada
In a separate interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation she said arriving in her new home country was 'worth the risk I took'.
She said: 'I felt that I could not achieve my dreams that I wanted as long as I was still living in Saudi Arabia.'
In her new home, 'I will try things I haven't tried. I will learn things I didn't learn. I will explore life... I will have a job and live a normal life.'
Several other countries, including Australia, had been in talks with the U.N.'s refugee agency to accept Ms al-Qunun before she flew to Canada.
Australian media reported that UNHCR had withdrawn its referral for Ms al-Qunun to be resettled in Australia because Canberra was taking too long to decide on her asylum
UNHCR spokeswoman Lauren La Rose said the fact she was processed so quickly is a credit to those that made it happen.
'This is someone who was clearly in harm's way, who clearly felt her life with her threatened, and my colleagues in concert with governments in Thailand and Canada recognized that need,' she said.
Canada is now the new home for Saudi refugee Ms al-Qunun (pictured) after Canada answered a request by the UNHCR
Ms al-Qunun (pictured) previously reacted to news Australia was considering granting her asylum, saying, 'Is it true??? Australia wants me to go there??? I'm so happy'
The 18-year-old was detained in Thailand following her arrival in the country. She is pictured having barricaded herself in an airport hotel room in a bid to avoid deportation
She was helped to Canada from Thailand by an UNHCR official (left)
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/saudi-teen-who-fled-to-canada-believes-shell-inspire-others-to-do-the-same-as-she-shows-knees/
News Pictures Saudi teen who fled to Canada believes she'll inspire others to do the same as she shows knees
You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!
TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
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kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
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https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/01/15/23/8574694-6592997-Rahaf_Mohammed-a-21_1547594911597.jpg
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