Challenging the laws that treat women as minors and children as collateral damage.
The System Explained
Across the Gulf, discrimination is codified. The concept of "Male Guardianship" (Wilayah) remains the foundational legal theory governing family law in the region. Even where reforms have allowed women to drive or travel, the legal structure of the household remains hierarchical. A woman’s right to marry, leave prison or even exit a domestic abuse shelter often legally depends on the signature of a male relative.
New Personal Status Laws in countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait still legally require wives to "obey" their husbands, linking financial maintenance to compliance.
Women who flee abuse can be charged with "disobedience" or "absconding," forcing them back into dangerous homes under threat of arrest.
Citizenship laws in most Gulf states prevent mothers from passing their nationality to their children. If a father is stateless (or absent), the child becomes legally invisible, denied healthcare, education and a future.
Building the Case
We will operate a quiet but effective defence network:
We will provide verified evidence of "persecution by law" to asylum courts in Europe and North America, proving that a woman cannot be safely returned to a country where her abuser is her legal guardian.
Their Freedom will begin training women activists to encrypt communication to organize without triggering state surveillance or cyber-harassment laws.
We are submitting counter-reports to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), directly challenging government PR narratives with documented case files.
Regional Reports: The State of Rights
A 2024 academic study found that approximately 50% of female domestic workers in the UAE experience physical, sexual or psychological abuse at the hands of their employers. Nearly 100% report restrictions on their freedom of movement including passport confiscations and being locked inside their workplace with no access to communication.