Too Western: In Saudi Arabia, an American was taken away from her daughter because of photos

Last month, an American woman named Bethany Vierra lost custody of her little daughter Zaina. The basis for this court decision in Saudi Arabia was that the woman was “too Western” to raise a child well. Now Vierra's parents are worried about losing both their granddaughter and daughter.

Photo: Instagram /oz_yoga_studio

“We love our granddaughter,” said her father Myron. “What we fear most is that we will never see her.”

Bethany, an 32-year-old student and yoga teacher, moved to Saudi Arabia to teach at 2011 at a university. She recently divorced her husband from Saudi Arabia and filed custody of their four-year-old daughter.

Photo: Instagram video screenshot

But in July, the court concluded that she would not be a good parent.

“The mother is new to Islam, she is a foreigner in this country and continues to follow the customs and traditions of her upbringing. We must protect (Zaina) from these customs and traditions, especially at this early age,” wrote Judge Abdul-Ellah bin Mohammed al-Tuwaijri in justifying his decision to deprive the woman of custody of her daughter.

"These are all male judges who protect sharia much more than the interests of the child," Rothna Begum, senior women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, tells CNN.

Saudi Arabia is subject to strict Sharia Islamic law.

“Contrary to our religion, customs and traditions”

Court documents briefly outline the charges against the American. Among them, for example, is a presence at the American festival Burning Man, which is described as “the world's strangest festival”, where visitors “show up in crazy clothes and stay up all night”.

According to the judge’s notes, her ex-husband’s lawyer also accused her of supporting social media channels, “full of nudity, mixing the two sexes, and a lot of things and actions contrary to our religion, customs and traditions.” Photos from the festival and the social networks of the woman became important evidence against the American.

Photo: Instagram video screenshot

In court, Bethany objected that her ex-husband was actually an inappropriate parent, claiming that he had insulted her and her daughter and had used drugs.

Her ex-husband denies the allegations and does not respond to requests for comment from CNN.

Ultimately, the judge granted custody of Zayna to her grandmother from Saudi Arabia, who lives with Zayna's father.

“The fact that the father is living with his mother is likely a temporary situation,” the judge wrote.

Bethany was given time to appeal the judge's custody decision, and for now the child remains with her. But her parents Katie and Myron told CNN there is a warrant for her arrest after she missed her ex-husband's child visitation - a visit she didn't know about.

They also say that Bethany was banned from leaving Saudi Arabia for the next 10 years, although they were unable to provide more details about the reason for the ban.

The weakening of "custody" in Saudi Arabia

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has taken preliminary steps towards the emancipation of women.

In 2012, Saudi women were first allowed to compete in the Olympics. In 2015, women were first allowed to vote in local elections. And recently, after a long campaign, women were finally allowed to drive cars.

At the end of this month, women will be allowed to have a passport without the prior permission of the male guardian. However, the controversial system of “custody” of men over women remains largely unchanged.

“A woman must have a male guardian from birth to death,” says Begum, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“The idea is that they are not capable of taking responsibility for themselves and that men know better,” he added.

For example, women still need the permission of a male guardian before a planned operation. And what is critical for Vierra, according to Saudi law, a woman’s testimony costs half as much as a man’s testimony.

“She is treated like a child in court. Like a minor,” her mother told CNN.

A US Department of State official told CNN that he knew about this case, but did not comment “out of confidentiality.”

“Generally speaking, the U.S. State Department and our embassies and consulates abroad have no greater responsibility than protecting U.S. citizens abroad. US citizens abroad are subject to local laws,” the official added.

Now Bethany is in a hurry to collect all the necessary documents to appeal the decision on custody.

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