IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 857 

Calling on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to take immediate actions to drop 

all charges against the Saudi rape victim known as the ‘‘Qatif Girl’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2007 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to take immediate 

actions to drop all charges against the Saudi rape victim 

known as the ‘‘Qatif Girl’’. 

Whereas in 2006, an anonymous 19-year-old Saudi woman 

from Saudi Arabia’s eastern province of Qatif was attacked by seven Saudi men and gang-raped; 

Whereas the woman, known to Saudi media as the ‘‘Qatif 

Girl’’, initiated a legal complaint against her attackers; 

Whereas later in 2006 the ‘‘Qatif Girl’’ was sentenced by the 

Saudi courts to six months in jail and 90 lashes for being 

alone in a car with a man she was not related to at the 

time she was attacked; 


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•HRES 857 IH 

Whereas she appealed that ruling and the judges ruled on her 

appeal on November 13, 2007, increasing her sentence to 

200 lashes and six months in jail; 

Whereas according to press reporting, the judges informed 

the rape victim that they increased her punishment because of ‘‘her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media’’; 

Whereas in response to an American reporter’s question on 

November 20, 2007, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud alFaisal pledged that ‘‘the Saudi judiciary will review the 

case’’; 

Whereas Saudi government authorities have ordered the 

woman, her lawyer, and her husband to stop talking to 

the press and have refused to provide the woman or her 

husband with a copy of the verdict in her case, further 

delaying the appellate process; 

Whereas the trial and conviction of the ‘‘Qatif Girl’’ will dissuade future victims of rape from coming forth to accuse 

their attackers; and 

Whereas the Saudi law forbidding a woman from being alone 

in a car with men she is not related to is an anachronistic assault on women’s dignity and should be abolished: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the United States House of Rep2 resentatives— 

3 (1) condemns the Saudi judiciary for convicting 

4 the ‘‘Qatif Girl’’ on the anachronistic charge of 

5 being alone in a car with a man she is not related 


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•HRES 857 IH 

1 to, as well as for the inhumane punishment to which 

2 she was sentenced; 

3 (2) calls on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to 

4 take immediate action to overturn the conviction and 

5 sentence and to drop all charges against the Saudi 

6 rape victim known as the ‘‘Qatif Girl’’; 

7 (3) urges the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to take 

8 the steps necessary to ensure that victims of rape 

9 are not penalized for bringing forth allegations 

10 against their attackers; 

11 (4) calls upon the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to 

12 abolish its law forbidding a woman from being alone 

13 in a car with men she is not related to, as well as 

14 other laws that compromise women’s freedom, dig15 nity, and equality; and 

16 (5) expresses sympathy for the ‘‘Qatif Girl’’ for 

17 her physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her 

18 rapists and of the Saudi judicial system. 

Æ 


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