Riyadh: Following stern disagreements with the male members of family, as many as five Saudi women living in the United States have replaced their student visas with “victim visas”.
According to a report, the women, whose change of status make them ineligible for economic support from Saudi Cultural Bureau in Washington DC, accompanied their families to the United States and went to court after continuous dispute with their husbands or brothers.
One of those women, who studies in US, has shifted her habitat to an orphanage because of fights with her husband.
After winning her case in the US court, she chooses to stay in US because there were no guarantees of her safety if she returns to Saudi Arabia. The woman is now financially supported by the American government, living apart with her husband.
“Many of the girls argue that they do not feel safe going back to their husbands or to their families in Saudi Arabia, so they choose to give up their student visas and the financial assistance provided by the Saudi government and apply for the victim visa which allows them to stay in the U.S. and receive assistance,” the report quotes unnamed sources.
It further noted that the financial help granted to those girls, who are usually students themselves, varies from one case to another. The assistance could come in the form of an academic scholarship, a job, or food and shelter as in the case of the orphanage.
Women and children living in the U.S. are eligible for a victim visa under specific conditions. The most notable of which is having been victims of crimes like sexual harassment, rape, abduction, human trafficking, torture and having those crimes proven and reported.
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