Report submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and Girls (CEDAW) in the context of the fifth periodic review of Saudi Arabia.
Introduction
This joint shadow report, submitted by MENA Rights Group and ALQST for Human Rights, contains information on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and Girls (CEDAW), including comments on the State reply to the list of issues and information on the implementation by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of the previous Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (the Committee).
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has consistently upheld a progressive stance on the advancement of women’s rights in the country. It regularly emphasises the reforms and changes undertaken to protect and promote women’s rights. The findings in this report show a different reality.
According to our findings and based on testimonies and documentation collected by submitting organisations, women have increasingly been targeted by authorities for criticising discriminatory laws such as the personal status law. They have been subjected to enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, and torture in the form of sexual harassment and other sexual abuses.
Therefore, submitting organisations find that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has failed to comply with the binding obligations of the CEDAW and to implement the Committee’s 2018 Concluding Observations.
