Saudi authorities probe video of men beating orphaned girls and women

The grim attack on girls and women in an orphanage in Saudi Arabia is now being investigated by authorities.

Saudi Arabian authorities are investigating distressing footage purportedly showing a group of men violently beating and dragging girls and women by their hair in terrifying scenes.

The video appears to show Saudi security officials and police officers - both in khaki uniform and civilian clothing - herding girls and women up in what looks like the courtyard of the Social Education House for Girls orphanage in Khamis Mushait in the Asir Province.

Distressing footage from Khamis Mushait orphanage showing security forces and masked men storming the site and assaulting girls who were protesting their conditions.

The #Saudi authorities must open an investigation and hold the perpetrators accountable.pic.twitter.com/XuiQQ73F1c

— ALQST for Human Rights (@ALQST_En) August 31, 2022

In the clip, a security official seems to pull a young woman by her hair along the ground, while she is whipped with a belt by a policeman.

Other females appear to be chased around the courtyard and beaten by men with wooden sticks.

It is not clear from the footage — which went viral on social media from Tuesday night — why, when and where the incident occurred.

A woman is dragged along the ground by her hair and strapped by a policeman in the video. Picture: Twitter

Many girls and women are chased around the courtyard and hit with wooden sticks. Picture: Twitter

However, the Twitter user who originally posted the video claims that the incident occurred after the girls and women conducted a “strike against corruption and injustice” in relation to poor living conditions and the ways in which they were kept in the orphanage despite reaching adulthood.

Additionally, Storyful - an intelligence agency that monitors the social media to verify content - has confirmed that the location where the video was taken matches images taken from the Asir Province orphanage.

The governor of the Asir Province where the orphanage is situated, Prince Turki bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz, said on Wednesday that he had ordered an inquiry into the footage and that its findings would be referred to a “competent authority”.

Even still, the hashtag “Khamis_Mushait_Orphans” has trended across Twitter and human rights organisations and activists have condemned the video which has attracted millions of views.

Saudi authorities breaking into a girls' orphanage who spoke up for their simplest rights and needs. Beating, lashing and dragging girls from their hair in a horrific scene of torture.#ايتام_خميس_مشيط#ميلاد_ولي_العهد_37#Khamis_mushait_orphans#MBS_37th_bloody_birthdaypic.twitter.com/ZI6yfddgWl

— زرقاء اليمامة (@_Auroura_) August 31, 2022

The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights said that the incident is a reflection of the regular violence that is inflicted on girls and women in Saudi Arabia in a statement on Wednesday.

“Despite the announcement by the governor of the Asir region to open an investigation into the incident, it is not possible to trust that the violators will be held accountable in light of the flaws in the judicial system and the lack of effective accountability”, the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights said.

“Several battered women have previously reported similar violations in official institutions, including care homes, and the violators have not been held accountable”.

In 2022 #Saudi women are being beaten in an official facility by security forces. Are these the reforms that #MBS has been talking about?
The measures to criminalize the victims are more obvious than the measures taken against the abusers.pic.twitter.com/janmJg3jax

— ESOHR (@ESOHumanRightsE) September 2, 2022

This sentiment was echoed in the statement released by ALQST - an organisation which promotes human rights in Saudi Arabia - on Thursday where it said that the fact that that the local authority has failed to convict the security officials for “this blatant and brutal assault on the women means that any investigation will lack all credibility”.

“Contrary to the narrative of reform and progress on women’s rights that the authorities are constantly trumpeting, the repressive male guardianship system is still far from being dismantled and women remain subject to men’s control”, ALQST said.

In the past few years, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has asserted that Saudi Arabia has improved women’s rights.

Prince Salman has referenced a number of changes that he has made since he has been in power including removing the ban on women driving, and allowing women to enter football stadiums to watch matches, to obtain and use their passports without a male relative’s permission and to register as a co-head of their households along with their husbands.

While these reforms are definitely a step in the right direction, it is still common practice in Saudi Arabia to send females to orphanages (like the Social Education House for Girls in Khamis Mushait) if they have been subjected to domestic violence or if they have done something which disobeys their family.’

So, the question is how much progress is really being made in relation to women’s rights in the oil rich nation?

Originally published as Saudi authorities probe video of men beating orphaned girls and women