Samar Badawi

Samar Badawi
Badawi (centre) with Michelle Obama (left) and Hillary Clinton (right) at the 2012 International Women of Courage Awards
Born	Samar Mohammad Badawi (1981-06-28) 28 June 1981 (age 36)
Nationality	Saudi American
Known for	legal conflict with father over male guardianship,women's suffrage lawsuit,women to drive movement
Spouse(s)	Waleed Abulkhair
Children	1 son
Relatives	Raif Badawi (brother) Ensaf Haidar (sister-in-law)

Samar Mohammad Badawi (Arabic: سمر بدوي; born 28 June 1981) is a Saudi Arabian-American human rights activist. She and her father, who physically abused her for 15 years, filed court cases against each other. Badawi's father accused her of disobedience under the Saudi Arabian male guardianship system and she charged her father with adhl, for refusing to allow her to marry. Badawi was imprisoned under a warrant relating to the disobedience charge on 4 April 2010, released on 25 October 2010 after a local and international support campaign, and her guardianship was transferred to an uncle. The Saudi Arabian NGO Human Rights First Society described Badawi's imprisonment as "outrageous illegal detention".

Badawi filed a Grievances Board lawsuit against the Ministry of Municipal and Rural affairs for the rejection of her registration for the 2011 municipal elections. She participated in the 2011–2012 women driving campaign by driving regularly since June 2011 and helping women drivers with police and court procedures. In November 2011, she and Manal al-Sharif filed charges in the Grievances Board against the Saudi Arabian General Directorate of Traffic for rejecting their applications for drivers' licences. On 8 March 2012, Badawi was given an award by the United States Department of State for her contributions to women's rights.

Samar Badawi was allegedly physically abused by her father for 15 years. Her mother died prior to October 2010. In March 2008, she escaped to a women's shelter in Jeddah, the Protection Home. As her male guardian under the male guardianship system, Badawi's father filed a charge of disobedience against her. The Saudi Public Prosecutions and Investigation Bureau dropped the charge.