On 28th June 2024, ADHRB delivered an intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 56 during the annual discussion session on the human rights of women. ADHRB considered that Saudi Arabia should harmonize its legislation with human rights standards and release those detained for speaking out and advocating for women’s rights.
Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system is a legal and social framework that severely limits women’s autonomy and has profound effects on women’s rights and freedoms. It continues to prevent them from making crucial decisions such as traveling, marriage, or accessing certain health care services.
Significant obstacles remain in the plan to advance women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. In addition to the guardianship system, women human rights defenders face prosecution, and some of them have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms of up to 45 years for exercising their right to freedom of expression. This includes Loujain Al-Hathloul, Nassima Al-Sada, and Samar Badawi, who have been arbitrarily arrested, banned from traveling, and subjected to horrific torture and ill-treatment in prison.
As a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Saudi Arabia should harmonize its legislation with human rights standards, including the Personal Status Law of 2022. The repression of freedom of expression must stop, and Saudi Arabia must release at least 44 women detained for expressing their opinions and advocating for women’s rights issues.
