American Woman Loses Custody of Daughter in Saudi Arabia After Bikini Photos Shown to Judge 👩‍👧

Bethany Vierra wanted a divorce from a husband she described as abusive. Then she wanted to secure custody of her 4-year-old daughter, Zeina. But as an American woman living in Saudi Arabia, she has navigated a punishing legal maze ever since she first asked her Saudi ex-husband for a divorce in 2017, then opened custody proceedings in November. Though she succeeded with the divorce, her custody battle appeared to reach a dead end on Sunday, when a Saudi judge awarded custody of Zeina to her father’s mother, who lives with him, despite video evidence Ms. Vierra submitted to the court that she said showed her ex-husband doing drugs and verbally abusing her in front of their daughter. According to court documents, the judge accepted Ms. Vierra’s ex-husband’s arguments that she was unfit to raise Zeina because she was a Westerner, and furthermore, because she ran her own business, a yoga studio, leaving her with little time to devote to her child. He told the court that Ms. Vierra, who is from Washington state but moved to the kingdom in 2011 to teach at a women’s university, did not speak Arabic well, and that she was an atheist. He also submitted photos of her in a bikini, in yoga pants and with her hair uncovered — evidence of suspect or outright forbidden dress in a country that requires women to wear loose abayas in public. Ms. Vierra said the photos were taken in the United States and were from her private social media accounts. In the end, the judge found both parents unfit to raise Zeina, awarding custody instead to Ms. Vierra’s former mother-in-law. But Ms. Vierra did not find this comforting; she said her ex-husband’s sister had testified that their mother had hit them and emotionally abused them as children.

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Source: Woman loses custody of daughter in Saudi Arabia after bikini photos shown to judge

Location: Saudi Arabia

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