In a shocking revelation, a report published in the UK has shed light on the grim reality of hundreds of young Saudi Arabian women held captive in clandestine facilities.
These facilities, ambiguously referred to as care homes, jails, shelters, and prisons, are notorious for the harsh punishments meted out to women who dare to defy their husbands or male family members.
According to Breitbart, these facilities are officially known as Dar al-Reaya, translating to care home in Arabic. The system was initially established in the 1960s with the noble intention of rehabilitating young female offenders.
However, human rights activists, such as those from ALQST for Human Rights, have been striving to expose the sinister transformation of these care homes into convenient repositories for disobedient women. These women are often subjected to deplorable conditions and abuse at the mere discretion of their husbands or male guardians.
Sarah al-Yahia, a prominent activist, paints a chilling picture of the reality within these walls. It is a prison, not a care home, as they like to call it. They call each other by numbers. Number 35, come here. When one of the girls shared her family name, she got lashes. If she doesnt pray, she gets lashes. If she is found alone with another woman she gets lashes and is accused of being a lesbian. The guards gather and watch when the girls are being lashed, she revealed.
Al-Yahia further highlighted the systemic barriers that prevent others from aiding these women. They make it impossible for others to help women fleeing abuse. I know a woman who was sentenced to six months in jail because she helped a victim of violence. Giving shelter in the case of a woman charged for absenteeism is a crime in Saudi Arabia, she noted. She also pointed out the perverse practice of sending victims of sexual abuse to these facilities to safeguard the family's reputation.
Survivors of these care homes corroborated Yahias allegations, recounting their experiences of being imprisoned after enduring physical abuse from their male relatives or bringing shame to their families through pregnancy. Yahia herself was threatened with incarceration in the Dar al-Reaya system for resisting her fathers sexual abuse. In recent years, women have allegedly been sent to these homes for expressing their views on social media.
Once ensnared in the care home system, women find themselves trapped, unable to leave without the consent of their male guardian. They are subjected to beatings, humiliation, indoctrination, and drugging. Any complaints are met with threats of even worse abuse or possible murder if they were to return home.
The Dar al-Reaya system, supposedly reserved for women up to age 30, has become a life sentence for some. Women who age out can be transferred into a related network called Dar al-Theyafa (guest home or home of hospitality), where they could remain indefinitely.
Despite the widespread knowledge of these care homes among Saudi women, the outside world remains largely oblivious due to the prohibition on discussing them with outsiders. However, awareness has been raised due to some women's desperate attempts to escape or threats to commit suicide, which were caught on camera.
The most recent data on these facilities, obtained in 2016, revealed that there were officially 233 girls and women held in seven facilities across Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials announced plans to open more facilities in 2018, but it remains unclear whether these plans were implemented.
A young woman shared her harrowing experience, Every girl growing up in Saudi knows about Dar al-Reaya and how awful it is. Its like hell. I tried to end my life when I found out I was going to be taken to one. I knew what happened to women there and thought, I cant survive it.
In response to these allegations, a Saudi government spokesman admitted the existence of a network of care homes but described them as specialized facilities intended to help abused women and children. These are not detention centers, and any allegation of abuse is taken seriously and subject to thorough investigation, the official said. He insisted that women are free to leave at any time and may exit permanently whenever they choose without the need for approval from a guardian or family member.
Saudi Arabia has been striving to revamp its medieval image in line with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans Saudi Vision 2030 program. The program aims to diversify the Saudi economy away from total reliance on oil and modernize the Kingdom to make it more attractive to foreign investors.
The Saudis have made a few gestures towards equalizing womens rights, most notably in 2017 when King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud decreed that women should be allowed to drive. However, critics argue that these reforms are merely cosmetic, aimed at improving the regime's image rather than ensuring women's safety. The outrage was palpable when the United Nations appointed Saudi Arabia as the chair of its Womens Rights Commission in March 2025.
U.N. Watch executive director Hillel Neuer criticized the decision, saying, As chair, Saudi Arabia is now in a key position to influence the planning and decisions of the worlds top womens right body.
Yet despite cosmetic reforms, Saudi Arabia continues to subject women to legal discrimination, where they are effectively enslaved under a male guardianship system that was enshrined into law three years ago, ironically on International Womens Day.
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