icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
10 Jan, 2019 10:38

Topless protesters call for Saudi teen Rahaf al-Qunun to be granted asylum in Australia (VIDEO)

Topless protesters call for Saudi teen Rahaf al-Qunun to be granted asylum in Australia (VIDEO)

A group of bare-breasted protesters took to the streets outside the Saudi consulate in Sydney to call for teenager Rahaf al-Qunun to be granted asylum after she fled her allegedly abusive family back in the Kingdom.

Four women, calling themselves ‘The Secret Sisterhood’, dressed only in jeans and shoes protested Al-Qunun’s treatment outside the Saudi Consulate in downtown Sydney Thursday.

The demonstrators had messages like “Let her in,” “All women free + safe,” and “Rahaf Sisterhood Hero” emblazoned on their backs.

“We decided to go topless because we believe all women should be able to express themselves freely and safely and we wanted to send a message to Rahaf that we can actually do that in Australia, that women can actually be free and safe,” Secret Sisterhood founder Jacquie Love said, as cited by The Japan Times.

Also on rt.com Saudi teen who fled from family & dramatically self-barricaded in Thailand gets UN refugee status

Secret Sisterhood has also started a GoFundMe campaign to raise “resettlement and protection funds” for a woman they have dubbed a “worldwide symbol of women trying to escape oppression.”

Rahaf, 18, was spared deportation back to her family in Saudi Arabia after a wave of social media outcry when she posted dramatic pleas from her Bangkok hotel room.

While she was granted refugee status by the UN High Commissioner for refugees on Wednesday, her ultimate fate remains in the hands of the Australian government.

Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton claimed the woman would not receive “special treatment” but would instead be processed like any other refugee, though whether this means placing her in the notorious facilities on Manus Island remains to be seen.

Rahaf fled while in Kuwait with her family, with a view to flying to Australia to seek asylum, but was intercepted in Bangkok airport, where she alleges a Saudi diplomat seized her passport. 

A diplomat was later filmed saying they should have taken the woman’s phone in light of the publicity she managed to generate via social media.

Meanwhile, others have highlighted that al-Qunun’s case is just one of many worthy of international attention and outcry.

Take the strange disappearance of Saudi comic Fahad al-Butairi, known as the ‘Jerry Seinfeld’ of Saudi Arabia and his partner, human rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, have disappeared in an apparent crackdown on dissidents and activists in the Kingdom in recent months.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!

Podcasts
0:00
23:13
0:00
25:0