160 European parliamentarians called on Saudi Arabia to end all forms of discrimination against women, abolish the sponsorship system, and immediately and unconditionally release all women human rights defenders detained for their peaceful human rights activities and drop the charges against them.
In a statement on International Women’s Day on 8 March 2021, European parliamentarians indicated that the Saudi government has, over the past two years, lifted some restrictions on women, including allowing them to apply for passports, in addition to reducing gender segregation and allowing women to drive. However, the statement considered that these measures are not sufficient in light of the continuation of the male guardianship system, which is the legal framework that treats women as minors, according to the parliamentarians, and which restricts their freedom.
Parliamentarians made it clear that women are still unable to make decisions freely about their education, job, health, or marriage, and they are still deprived of passing on their nationality to their children.
The statement indicated that gender-based violence is not adequately defined in the law nor sufficiently criminalized, and that the new reforms to protect women from abuse lack adequate means of implementation, leaving many women in abusive relationships.
In addition, the freedoms that Saudi Arabia granted to women are “null” according to the statement, which stated that while the government said it had given women the right to obtain a passport, the father, brother, or even the son can still prevent a woman from leaving the country with claims such as “disobedience”. Parliamentarians also indicated that women continue to need the approval of a guardian to leave detention centers or care homes to which they may be sent because they were subjected to violence or torture.
The statement clarified that in 2018, a number of women were arrested, and while some of them were temporarily released during their trials, others such as Nasima al-Sada and Samar Badawi are still being held. It mentioned that on 10 February 2021, activist Loujain al-Hathloul was released temporarily and conditionally after 1000 days of arrest only because of her peaceful activism. The statement emphasized that al-Hathloul is not free, as the government imposed severe restrictions on her.
Parliamentarians reiterated their call on the Saudi government to immediately and unconditionally release all women detained for their human rights activities, drop charges against them, and compensate them, and in addition grant released women human rights defenders the right to freedom of movement and work without fear of retaliation.
In addition to the statements issued by MPs and parliamentary committees, the European Parliament has issued, in recent years, several decisions praising the role of human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia and criticizing the violations committed by the government.
The European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) welcomes the positions that highlight the continuing violations of women’s rights by Saudi Arabia, and the inconsistency of the official promises with the procedures on the ground, which is confirmed by the continued detention of activists, the continued harassment, and the failure to investigate the torture and ill-treatment they were subjected to. In addition, the government efforts on the practical level regarding these promises, which would ensure their implementation, are not serious.