An 18-year-old Saudi woman's flight from what she said was an abusive family has rallied opposition to the kingdom's male guardianship system, still a major constraint on women despite the conservative Muslim country's efforts to open up.
Some freedoms have been granted under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who ended a ban on women driving, eased restrictions on gender mixing and championed firsts such as allowing women to serve in the armed forces.
Yet those changes have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including the arrest and alleged torture of some of the activists who campaigned for decades to improve women's rights — as well as Muslim preachers who opposed them.