Samar Badawi is a prominent Saudi Arabian human rights defender and women’s rights activist based in Jeddah, known for her advocacy against the kingdom’s male guardianship system and her efforts to secure women’s rights to drive, vote, and participate in public life. In 2011, she filed a lawsuit demanding women’s right to vote and stand in municipal elections and actively campaigned to end the driving ban. On 30 July 2018, she was arrested during a raid on her home and detained at Dhahban Central Prison, where she was held incommunicado for a month and later charged with communicating with foreign entities and unlicensed activism. During her detention, she reportedly endured torture, including sexual assault and prolonged solitary confinement. She was released on 26 June 2021 after nearly three years in prison, but remains subject to a travel ban and restrictions on her freedom of expression and employment.