On December 28, 2020, 31-year-old Saudi women's rights activist Roujain al-Hasrour was sentenced to nearly six years in prison (she has 30 days to appeal) through the Kingdom's special criminal court (opens in new tab). (Here, Al-Hasrur's sisters, Lina and Alia Al-Hasrur, tell, in their own words, the story of Ruja'in and why they will never stop fighting for their sister's freedom.

On Monday, December 28, 2020, our sister, Rujain al-Hasrul, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison. Rujain's sentence was handed down after spending nearly three years in pretrial detention. During that time, she was brutally tortured, held in solitary confinement, went on two hunger strikes, and was repeatedly denied contact with our parents (her legal representatives).

Many people have asked us how Roujain is doing after all this time and how we feel about her sentencing. To fully answer this question, we would like to tell you about our sister and why her activities define who she is.

Lujain is one of the middle sisters in our family of six siblings. From an early age, I knew what Lujain was thinking. She was always asking questions. This should have been a sign of what she was going to do as a leader and advocate for women's rights.

Many people know of Rujain because of her involvement in the Women2Drive campaign (open in new tab), but Rujain's work began before the fight for driving equality in Saudi Arabia. Rujain began posting short videos on Keek, a now-defunct social media site, on issues such as equality, male guardianship, and activism (many of her videos can still be found on YouTube). She posted these videos in the spirit of opening a space for discourse and conversation with people to share their views on issues; she also experienced bullying and harassment for the videos she posted on Keek, but she responded as she always has, with even more determination.

When she was accused of being a Saudi activist from afar (at the time she was a French literature student at the University of British Columbia), Rujain decided to finish her studies and return to Saudi Arabia. Realizing that any change in women's rights had to be made by Saudi women, she planned to establish the first women's shelter for women fleeing domestic violence. This did not happen because of Roujain's imprisonment.

Rujain's first attempt to drive a car in Saudi Arabia was in 2014. After attempting to drive across the Saudi border, Rujain was imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for 73 days in a facility called a "care home" or "Dar al-Reyaa." These residential facilities, which are prisons in all but name, are for women who have been formally disowned by their male guardians. While in prison, Ruja'in found herself incarcerated with other women who were sent to these "care homes" simply because they "disobeyed" their male guardians. The Saudi government considers these women juvenile delinquents. The sisters realized that their freedom was not simply to be able to drive, but to be free from male guardianship.

This 73 days in prison helped Rujain become more activist: in July 2016, Rujain, along with other Saudi activists, sent a telegram and petition to King Salman, organizing a campaign to abolish male guardianship in the country. The petition gathered more than 14,000 signatures. Human Rights Watch (open in new tab) described the wave of activity in 2016 as "incredible and unprecedented."

In March 2018, Loujain disappeared. She was studying at the Sorbonne University in the UAE when Emirati police rounded up the car she was driving (she had a UAE driver's license), kidnapped her, and transported her to Saudi Arabia against her will. Our sister was detained in Saudi Arabia for several days, then released and banned from traveling; on May 15, 2018, our sister was arrested along with other Saudi activists who were advocating for women's rights and the lifting of the driving ban, which took effect only weeks after her arrest (opens in new tab).

We later learned that Rujain was tortured (open in new tab) by Saudi authorities for the first 50 days of his imprisonment. They raped our sister, mutilated her, and threatened to throw her into the sewers. She was whipped, waterboarded, electrocuted, and sexually assaulted. Roujain has spent most of his nearly three years of detention in solitary confinement. His phone has been disconnected for months. Mental torture by Saudi authorities led to hallucinations during his second hunger strike. And after all this, our sister was sentenced two weeks ago to five years and eight months in prison (opens in new tab) and labeled a terrorist. The brutal torture she suffered was denied by the Saudi authorities (opens in new tab). She could be returned to prison at any time if Saudi authorities allege the existence of criminal acts.

So what about our sister Rujain? She remains determined to fight for justice. She was only fighting for collective women's rights and equality, but she is devastated that she has been labeled a terrorist. She is physically weak, having endured what no person should ever be made to experience. Since her incarceration, we have built advocacy connections with parliamentarians and representatives within UN member states and international governments to advocate for Ruzyain at the highest levels. We have worked with a number of international organizations that have been wonderful supporters of Ruzyain. We have also spoken at the UN Human Rights Council. We accepted an award on behalf of my sister. We have given numerous media interviews to ensure the public is informed of the situation.

We are exhausted, but we will not give up on our beloved Rujain. As her sisters, we remain committed to her and will not stop fighting until she is free and unconditional. She fought for all of us Saudi women. We will never give up on her

To learn more about Loujain al-Hathloul and how to take action, click here (opens in new tab).