The 18-year-old girl who fled the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after rejecting its strict Islamic laws, stepped out on Tuesday showing she's wasting no time in taking advantage of her new freedom in Canada.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun - who revealed she had dropped her last name connecting her to her Saudi governor father - bared her legs in a gray sweater dress that stopped at the knee - an outfit that's far more revealing than custom allows in her homeland.
And not only did she ditch the abaya robe, but the teenager also opted not to wear the traditional hijab or niqab covering for her face and head.
She showed off her straightened bob hair style as she walked into the room full of media in a pair of shiny black ankle boots with studded embellishments.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun speaks at the COSTI Corvetti Education Centre today in Toronto, Ontario without wearing the traditional Saudi dress for women
Ms al-Qunun was greeted by journalists as she walked into the education centre in Toronto to give a talk while wearing a gray sweater dress that showed off her knees
She arrived in Toronto on Saturday after the country granted her asylum on the advice of the United Nations' refugee agency.
But it has since emerged that the teen has received multiple threats online that have made her fear for her safety and she is now being given round-the-clock security.
That's according to Mario Calla, executive director of Costi Immigration Services, a refugee agency contracted by the Canadian government to help her settle in Toronto.
Calla said: 'It's hard to say how serious these threats are. We're taking them seriously.'
Costi has hired a security guard and plans to 'make sure she is never alone.'
'She sees these threats,' he said. 'She has left Islam and she basically has broken away from her family, and that scares her. Her emotions go back and forth.'
Mario Calla (right), executive director of Costi Immigration Services, a refugee agency contracted by the Canadian government to help her settle in Toronto
She said she wants to help other women flee Saudi Arabia as it's revealed she'll have round-the-clock security
Rahaf Mohammed, 18, addresses the media with the help of translator Saba Abbas (right)
When asked why she had fled her homeland, Ms al-Qunun (seen during her talk today) replied: 'I wanted to be free from abuse and depression'
'What's new about this is the role of social media that it played in getting the attention she received,' he said.
In her first weekend in Canada the young woman immediately got winter clothes and phone service.
Calla said she has completed high school and had expressed interest in taking civil engineering in university.
"But maybe there's a future in politics for her," Calla said. "She certainly has been handling all this pressure very well."
Ms al-Qunun has nine siblings. She used a loophole in the state's tough laws to travel to Kuwait unaccompanied. Women from the country are usually have to have a male guardian make decisions for them.
From there, she purchased a ticket to Bangkok and was hoping to seek asylum in Canada, the United States, Australia, the UK or 'any nation would protect her from being harmed or killed by her family'.
Before: The teenager, pictured with her 12-year-old sister, said it had upset her that her family had announced they had disowned her 'simply because I wanted to escape their abuse'
New style: Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, has begun adapting to life in Canada after being granted asylum, with a photo showing her all bundled up in a winter jacket and woolly hat
Instead, her passport was seized by a Saudi diplomat and she was forced to lock herself in an apartment room.
She says she spent months planning her escape before implementing her dangerous plan on January 5.
She barricaded herself in an airport hotel room where her social media campaign got enough public and diplomatic support that Thai officials admitted her temporarily under the protection of U.N. officials, who granted her refugee status Wednesday.
'What's new about this is the role of social media that it played in getting the attention she received,' Calla said.
In her first weekend in Canada the young woman immediately got winter clothes and phone service. Calla said she has completed high school and had expressed interest in taking civil engineering in university.
'But maybe there's a future in politics for her,' Calla said. 'She certainly has been handling all this pressure very well.'
In a television interview, she spoke of finally being 'free' from abuse by both the Saudi state and her family, after being granted asylum by Canada
Ms al-Qunun said in an Australian television interview that she expected her experience would inspire other women to flee her homeland
The Saudi teen
