Disturbing video reveals brutal reality inside ‘care homes’ where women can be detained indefinitely at male guardians’ whim
Horrifying footage obtained by MailOnline exposes Saudi police brutally beating women detained in secretive facilities where families send “disobedient” women and girls for punishment, revealing a dark underbelly to the Kingdom’s claimed reforms on women’s rights.
The disturbing video shows security officers at a so-called “Social Education Home for Girls” in Khamis Mushair violently attacking women who were staging a peaceful sit-in protest over poor living conditions. Officers are seen rushing at the women, beating them with belts and sticks, dragging them by their hair, and continuing the assault even as victims lay helpless on the ground.
While the footage first circulated in 2022, it has resurfaced as brave former detainees break their silence about the nightmare conditions inside these “Dar al-Reaya” (care home) facilities – de facto prisons where women can be held indefinitely without trial, their only crime being deemed “disobedient” by male relatives.
‘They Completely Cut Them Off’
Dr Maryam Aldossari, a Saudi academic now at Royal Holloway, University of London, told MailOnline that despite international praise for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reforms, these facilities continue operating across the Kingdom, holding women and girls as young as 13.
“It still exists,” she warned. “We still know people who are there and God knows when they will leave.”
Dr Aldossari, who left Saudi Arabia in 2008 and now works with human rights organization ALQST, painted a chilling picture of life inside these facilities: “They completely cut them off. There are cameras everywhere. If you misbehave you must go to these small individual rooms, you are separated.”
The definition of “misbehavior” can be terrifyingly broad. Anything can be considered as a violation of women’s rights,” she explained – from refusing an arranged marriage to seeking independence, from reporting domestic abuse to simply expressing opinions that displease male guardians.
No Trial, No Appeal, No Escape
The facilities operate in a legal grey zone that makes a mockery of justice. There is no trial before a woman is sent to these institutions, no formal charges filed, no legal representation provided, and no appeal process available. A male guardian’s word is sufficient to condemn a woman or girl to years of detention.
“Despite recent reforms nominally strengthening women’s rights, there is no consistent interpretation of the law,” Dr Aldossari said. Women can be held indefinitely – their release depending entirely on the whim of the same male guardian who had them detained.
Some women have reportedly been driven to attempt suicide due to the alleged abuse and hopelessness of their situation. Others emerge psychologically broken after years of isolation, punishment, and “re-education” designed to crush their spirit and ensure compliance.
Official Denials Ring Hollow
When the video first emerged, local authorities announced an investigation – but notably failed to condemn the officers’ actions. ALQST assessed that any such investigation would “lack all credibility,” noting that violence at the hands of authorities is a “hallmark” of the Saudi prison system.
A Saudi government spokesperson recently denied that the care homes were detention centers, claiming “women are free to leave at any time” without needing permission from guardians. They added that “any allegation of abuse is taken seriously and subject to thorough investigation.
Dr Aldossari’s response was blunt: “The regime lie and lie and lie and lie.”
The video evidence speaks louder than official denials. Women being beaten for peacefully protesting their conditions are clearly not “free to leave at any time.” The brutal assault captured on camera makes a mockery of claims that abuse allegations are taken seriously.
A Police State Behind the PR
The persistence of these facilities reveals the gap between Saudi Arabia’s expensive public relations campaigns and the reality for women on the ground. While the Kingdom promotes female drivers and women attending football matches, those who step too far outside prescribed boundaries face a medieval system of family-enforced detention.
“What we do hear – it’s such a dark time in Saudi Arabia. This is becoming a police state,” Dr Aldossari said. “People are scared.”
The fear is well-founded. In addition to these “care homes,” the Kingdom has dramatically increased its use of the death penalty, imprisoned women’s rights activists who campaigned for the very reforms the government later claimed credit for, and created an atmosphere where citizens are terrified to speak out.
International Community’s Shameful Silence
Perhaps most disturbing is the international community’s muted response to these abuses. While Western leaders court Saudi investment and sell arms to the Kingdom, women and girls remain trapped in these facilities, their suffering ignored in favor of lucrative deals.
The video should serve as a wake-up call. Behind the glossy presentations about Vision 2030 and women’s empowerment lies a system that still treats women as property, subject to indefinite detention without trial at a male relative’s request.
The Victims’ Courage
The women in the video showed extraordinary bravery in staging their protest, knowing the violent response it would likely provoke. Their willingness to resist, even in the face of beatings, speaks to the desperation of their situation and the strength of the human spirit even in the darkest circumstances.
Former detainees speaking out risk severe consequences for themselves and their families. In a country where a tweet can lead to decades in prison, their testimony represents an act of remarkable courage.
What Must Be Done
The international community can no longer plead ignorance. The video evidence is clear, the testimony compelling, and the continued existence of these facilities undeniable. Human rights organizations, governments, and international bodies must:
- Demand immediate access to all “care home” facilities for independent monitors
- Call for the immediate release of all women held without trial
- Impose consequences for continued human rights violations
- Support Saudi women’s rights activists and provide platforms for their voices
A System Designed to Break Women
The facilities represent more than just detention centers – they are instruments of patriarchal control designed to break women’s spirits and enforce absolute obedience. The message is clear: step out of line, and you can disappear into a “care home” until you learn to submit.
For the women beaten in the video, for those still trapped inside, and for the countless others living in fear of being sent to these facilities, the world’s silence is complicity. Their bruises, their screams, their years of stolen freedom demand more than investigations that go nowhere and denials that fool no one.
As Dr Aldossari concluded with chilling simplicity: “Anything can be considered as a violation of women’s rights.” In Saudi Arabia’s “care homes,” being a woman with an independent spirit is crime enough.
