Thank you for coming.
You're welcome.
You know a little bit of English.
Yeah.
Can you say something to Canadians in English?
Okay. Hello, people.
[both chuckle]
Rahaf, when you came out of the airport on Saturday morning,
you were finally in Canada, what were you thinking?
What were you feeling?
You had all the media there, you were suddenly a kind of
celebrity in a way and you had
the foreign minister embracing you
could you have ever seem yourself in that situation?
And after a weekend here in Canada,
what are some of your first impressions of this country?
Translator: She says it's very cold.
Susan: Yes, January is cold here.
What else?
Is it what you imagined?
How do you feel now about being here?
Do you feel safe?
What was happening in your life, as a teenager in Saudi Arabia,
that made you want to so desperately want to get out?
Rahaf, why were people threatening you in Saudi Arabia?
And who was locking you up
and threatening violence against you?
From your mother and your brother - violence.
Were they beating you?
How frequently did that happen?
Rahaf, can you help Canadians understand what it's like
to be a young woman in Saudi Arabia like you?
Can you give us examples of what restrictions you felt were
put on you that would certainly be different
than here in Canada?
Was there something that happened in the recent past,
in the last few weeks or months that made you
decide to plot to get out of Saudi Arabia?
Was there something specific that happened where you finally
said I'm not doing this anymore?
You took a huge risk to do what you did.
Why did you feel that you had to leave Saudi Arabia
instead of stay in the country and fight for your rights
or change like other Saudi women have tried to do?
Help me understand, was it
the abuse that was happening to you and your family?
Or the future that really made you decide to go?
We have heard a lot about
guardianship rules in Saudi Arabia
since you arrived here in Canada.
Can you explain to us what these
guardianship rules meant for you?
Who was your guardian?
You mentioned your mother and your brother beating you.
What was your father doing? What was his role?
And Rahaf, was there any physical abuse from your father?
Tell me about Kuwait. You went with your family on a holiday.
Did you have in your mind
when you were in Kuwait, even before,
that this was the time you were going to get away?
So that was your plan - to go to Kuwait and then disappear?
Were you afraid?
Tell me about that.
I mean, did you ever think I can't do this?
Did you have in your mind
when you were in Kuwait, even before,
that this was the time you were going to get away?
You bought your own plane ticket,
you made those arrangements, you paid for it -
all without your family knowing?
Translator: She did everything
and all the tickets she bought them all on the same day.
But you got to Thailand and then tell me what happened.
Rahaf, what were you thinking at that time?
Did you start that letter?
Where's that letter now?
That must have been hard.
You must have been feeling pretty desperate at that time?
Who do you think was trying to get you out of that room
and back to Saudi Arabia?
Who was behind that?
So you believe that the Saudis were pressuring Thailand
to keep you and send you back?
Rahaf, I saw somewhere in your tweets that you originally
didn't want to be public in Thailand,
but you decided you needed to all of a sudden
tell people you were in this situation.
Tell me about how you came to that decision.
What did you think would happen?
So why why did you do it?
It was a risk to say I'm here, I'm in Thailand, here's who
I am because then everybody knew where you were,
so why...why did you do it?
What were you convinced would happen to you
if you were sent back to Saudi Arabia to your family?
Why did you believe that?
Did your father try try to retrieve you from Thailand?
Did they see you? Did they come to the hotel?
Can you tell me about the point where you felt the lowest,
the most desperate in Thailand,
that maybe this plan wouldn't work?
And you were tweeting a lot of people at that point.
How did you come up with that?
Like the you know the German embassy, the German ambassador,
the Swedish ambassador, the prime minister of Australia,
like were you just searching?
Tell me about how you were
thinking of doing that, doing it.
And what was the point where you got a response that you thought,
maybe it's worked?
Can you describe that moment?
Now, Rahaf, have you heard from your family since?
Have they tried to reach out to you?
Have they said things about you
in the media in the public in Saudi Arabia?
Rahaf, I have that translation of that tweet that was on your
Twitter feed, where it says that this is your family
and that they disown you from the family.
And that they call you a naughty daughter who abused them
with shameful and uncustomary behaviour
and embarrassed our Islamic customs and values.
Do you believe that this letter,
this declaration is from your family?
This is real.
So when you saw that what did you think?
Translator: She said it was very solitary.
It's very hard.
Did you expect that?
It's okay. Take a moment.
Are you getting women asking
for your help now to do what you did?
And what is your message to women
who are fearing persecution,
who want to get out of their situation?
On social media your story has exploded.
Many people as well are saying that you are not
telling the truth that things aren't as bad
as you say in Saudi Arabia.
What do you say to people who are attacking you now?
Rahaf, you know other people are saying that there are millions
of refugees across the world,
who don't get fast treatment,
who aren't able to come to Canada.
How do you respond to the critics
who say you got special treatment?
How do you feel about your security now?
Have you seen threats against you and how many?
How do you live with that?
I mean, you took a risky decision,
you are now in a new country without your family,
and will you have to look over your shoulder
for the rest of your life, that someone may be out to get you?
What now? What do you want to do in Canada?
You're 18 you have your whole life ahead of you.
What does it feel like to have freedoms
today that you didn't have a month ago?
Was it?
Losing your family, leaving your country -
that was all worth it for you?
And Rahaf, will you be a voice
for women's rights from here, now?
Will this be part of your future?
Thank you.
You're welcome.