Mothers Imprisoned In Saudi Arabia For Asking For a Better Life

Often, as is the case in our youth, we are distracted by what we can do, but once we become mothers, we start to look around our world and ask ourselves what kind of life we want our daughters to have. What kind of life do we want our sisters to have when they grow up? Do we want them to have the right to choose their path without a man's permission? Do we want to see them forced to marry a man of their father's choosing as we have been?

It's sad to look around to see that with all we bore and went through in our youth under the male guardianship laws, alas, nothing has improved; our daughters and their daughters will suffer as we have, be beaten without a second thought, sexually abused, mentally abused and even killed for dishonoring their families. The regime is disinclined to interfere in what they call family matters. Men have the right to do as they please with the women under their guardianship, and when we make noise, we are punished harshly for it. 

So, you ask for change not for you because, in your mind, what's done is done but for them. For their daughters to come and the beauty and intelligence of every Saudi woman who has her light dimmed by these laws daily. Sadly, in Saudi Arabia, talking about change, asking for change, and questioning the regime is a crime. A crime that will land you in prison with a sentence that will ensure your daughter will have the fate you were trying to rally against. 

The most famous of these right now is Salma Al-Shahab, sentenced to 34 years in prison for tweeting about women's rights and the male guardianship law. She will not see her daughter grow up, get married, or go to school. She will not be able to be there for her son to advise him to be kind. After her sentence is completed, she will be on a travel ban, equivalent to house arrest. Her every movement controlled: check-ins, frozen bank accounts, and no passport. Once wrong message, one random like on a tweet about women's rights, and she will be sent back to prison.

The judges wanted to make a fierce example for her as they have done with Lujain Al Hathloul. 

None of these women deserve to be in prison, their human rights violated, and their bodies and minds tortured by a regime that claims to have improved the status of women. While the truth is, it's all for the media. On top of all this, they are denied counsel and the right to see or speak to their families. 

Hear their names; Say their names: 

Salma Al_Shahab - arrested, tortured, and denied contact with her family. 

Halima Al-Huwaiti 

She rejected the forced displacement of the Hawaitat tribe, and for this reason, she was arrested with her son, "Ahmad Abdel Nasser Al-Huwaiti" and her husband in October 2020.

There is no information about the location of Halima Al-Huwaiti or the conditions of her detention since her arrest until now. 

Aida Al-Ghamdi

She was arrested in 2018 even though she is over 60 years old and is a mother.

She was arrested to put pressure on her son, "Abdullah Al-Ghamdi." who's one of the opponents outside Saudi Arabia. Her younger son, "Adel," was also arrested with her, and they tortured her in front of him.

Nassima Al-Sada

she has three children. She was arrested in 2018 and released in 2021 and spent five years away from her children. She was harassed and detained in solitary confinement.

Samar Al-Badwi

Samar was arrested from 2018 to 2021 for the crime of defending human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Samah Al-Nufaiee 

she has two daughters. She was arrested on September 20, 2015, and the Criminal Court issued an unjust 6-year prison sentence against her. 

She was far from her daughters for six years.

The cases are endless, and while some we know of, others we hear nothing about because the family when fears retribution from the Saudi regime for speaking out. 

These forces took my Saudi great uncle, no one knew where he was, why he was taken, if he was alive, nothing. Everyone pretended like he had never existed. We never spoke of him or asked why he was gone. HE never saw his children or his family again. 

There is a natural code of silence in these cases because one of the most significant crimes we have is speaking against the laws, the regime, and the royal family publicly. Every Saudi has the right to petition the king in his majlis privately. Still, if that petition is made public, you and anyone associated with your petition are rounded up and locked away. Depending on how dangerous you are deemed to public order, that is the only defining factor that will decide if you're tortured, sentenced to a long hefty jail sentence, beheaded, or simply disappear. The families have no legal avenue that will help them. If the story is in the media, they will indulge the families if they don't lock them up first to continue the fight. They'll have you fill out a form and file an appeal, but in the end, the paperwork will be lost, and nothing will be done. They will constantly threaten retribution if the families persist in speaking out. 

We should admire their bravery in coming forward since it poses a significant risk to their continued freedom and their families. 



Elise Evans Martin

Women’s Rights Activist | Called The Katniss Everdeen of Saudi Arabia.,

Speaker | Author | Proud Dissident of Saudi Arabia