Shocking footage obtained by MailOnline shows Saudi police beating women detained inside secretive facilities where families send ‘disobedient’ women and girls to be punished.
Women seen in the clip were said to be staging a peaceful sit-in protest over poor living conditions at their so-called ‘care home’ in Khamis Mushair, in Asir Province.
Security and police officers at the ‘Social Education Home for Girls’ are seen rushing in and hitting the woman; some as they lay helpless on the ground.
Women were seen being dragged by their hair, beaten with belts and sticks, and subjected to other forms of physical abuse.
The video, which caused outrage among rights activists in Saudi Arabia when it first circulated in 2022, re-emerged as former detainees bravely spoke out about their experiences held in ‘Dar al-Reaya’ facilities across the country.
Dr Maryam Aldossari, a Saudi academic at Royal Holloway, University of London, told MailOnline that despite recent reforms, many women remain held in these de facto prisons, unable to leave until a male guardian permits them.
She cited examples of women enduring horrifying conditions inside the facilities, some reportedly even moved to take their own lives due to alleged abuse.
‘It still exists,’ she warned. ‘We still know people who are there and God knows when they will leave.