Saudi Girls Can Attend Gym Class, but Guardianship Still Lurks

On Tuesday 11 July, the Saudi Ministry of Education (MoE) announced that schools will provide physical education classes to girls for the first time in the kingdom’s history. This development marks a rare, if slight loosening of the restrictions placed on women in one of the world’s most restrictive societies. The decision is part of[…]

Mohammed bin Salman, the War in Yemen, and Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia

On Wednesday 21 June, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz elevated his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to Crown Prince, demoting Mohammed bin Nayef and leaving him out of the line of royal succession. Bin Salman’s ascendance to Crown Prince marks a radical reordering of the power dynamics in the Saudi royal family[…]

HRC35 Item 8 Oral Intervention: Bahrain Continues to Violate Vienna Declaration re: Rights of Women

On Monday 19 June 2017 during the 35th session of the Human Rights Council, Salma Moussawi delivered an oral intervention on behalf of ADHRB during the Item 8 general debate. In her intervention, Moussawi raised the issue of Bahrain’s failure to live up to the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action’s, particularly concerning the rights[…]

Manal al-Sharif and the Struggle of WHRDs in Saudi

On June 8, Saudi women’s rights activist Manal al Sharif gave an interview with NPR and the next day she wrote an op-ed for the New York Times. In both pieces, she discusses how women cannot drive in the kingdom, the guardianship system that underpins such restrictions, and her activism challenging the societal norm. She[…]

HRC35 Item 3 Oral Intervention: Discrimination Against Women in the GCC

On 9 June 2017, Jawad Fairooz, Director of Salam for Democracy and Human Rights, delivered an oral intervention on behalf of ADHRB and BIRD during the 35th session of the Human Rights Council’s Item 3 addressing the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women’s visit to Kuwait and the issues facing women around the GCC. Please[…]