In Saudi Arabia, women and girls with disability face a form of double discrimination, marginalized because they are women, and further marginalized because they are disabled. Despite major legal advancements, including the Disability Law (1987), the Disability Code (2000), and the 2023 Saudi Law on the Rights of Persons with Disability (SLRPD), disabled women remain disproportionately excluded from the rights and opportunities these frameworks promise. As reported by ADHRB, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aspires to create an inclusive, equitable society. In addition, these aspirations cannot be realised unless the unique challenges facing disabled women are acknowledged and addressed.
Education exclusion remains among the most severe barriers. PwC data shows that in Saudi Arabia, almost half of all women with disabilities have never attended school and are illiterate, among the highest figures in the GCC countries. Many girls with disabilities are kept out of school due to inaccessible infrastructure, lack of tailored teaching supports, financial constraints, and prevailing cultural attitudes that undervalue their education. These early disadvantages have lifelong consequences: without schooling, disabled women struggle to access vocational training or formal employment, trapping many in poverty and dependence. While strengthening the SLRPD is an important step, progress on paper does not yet translate into real inclusion. So where, then, is the full inclusion? Why are women and girls with disability still left out of the picture?
Economic participation further illustrates this inequality. Despite Article 28 of the Labour Law and strengthened protection under the SLRPD, employment opportunities for women with disabilities remain extremely limited. Employers often view accommodation as costly or unnecessary, and many workplace environments lack accessibility facilities. Transportation obstacles, such as inaccessible public transportation, further limit their capacity to work. Although working remotely may open up new possibilities for inclusion, many women with disabilities may not have access to the digital resources or training needed to take advantage of the opportunities.
Gender-based violence is arguably the most important and underappreciated problem. Saudi Arabia is no exception to the global trend of women with disabilities being more vulnerable to abuses. Many people encounter violence in their families or from caretakers, yet they encounter significant obstacles when seeking assistance. Physical, sensory, and communicative accommodations are constantly lacking in police stations, shelters, and legal services. Due to this, women and girls with disabilities continue to be disproportionately unprotected and unable to disclose assaults properly.
Despite progress, women and girls with disabilities remain overlooked. Real inclusion requires not only laws but cultural change, enforcement, and accessible services shaped by their lived experiences. Empowering women with disabilities is not only a matter of rights, but it is essential to build the inclusive, just society envisioned in Saudi Arabia’s reform agenda.