Al-Ghomgham is not the only woman activist to currently be imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Nine women’s rights activists are presently detained without charge in the country: Loujain al-Hathloul, Aziza al-Yousef, Eman al-Nafjan, Nouf Abdelaziz, Mayaa al-Zahrani, Hatoon al-Fassi, Samar Badawi, Nassema al-Sadah, and Amal al-Harbi.

Shortly before the ban on women drivers was lifted, Amnesty International’s Middle East director of campaigns told Stylist that there was a contradiction in how the Saudi government wanted to appear to the world and how it treats political activists.

“On the one hand, the authorities are enabling freedoms for women, but on the other, they’re imprisoning women’s rights activists,” said Samah Hadid.

“The message the government is sending out is they will not tolerate dissent or any form of activism. They will not tolerate human rights being campaigned for in the country – which is in direct contradiction to the PR campaign they’ve launched where they’ve tried to promote themselves as reformers. Instead they’re imprisoning reformers.”

Amnesty International is staging a protest in solidarity with imprisoned Saudi women’s rights activists outside the Saudi Embassy in London from 8am on Thursday 23 August. Female drivers will beep their horns and bringing traffic to a standstill, and call on the UK government to publicly condemn the arrests of the women who campaigned for the right to drive.

“Saudi Arabia’s so-called reforms are a sham – the UK Government must be bold in showing solidarity with brave women standing up for human rights by publicly condemning their arrest and calling for their release,” said Sara Rydkvist, Amnesty UK’s campaigns manager.

“The relentless crackdown on human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia will not be met with silence. The Saudi Embassy will hear us loud and clear demanding the release of these brave women and the many other activists in the country who have dared to speak up for their rights.”

Find out more about the demonstration here.

Images: Unsplash / Getty Images

This 29-year-old female activist is facing execution in Saudi Arabia