Loujain al-Hathloul is a Saudi women's rights activist, social media influencer, and former political prisoner renowned for her campaign against the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia. Born on July 31, 1989, in Riyadh, she rose to prominence through online activism and public defiance of gender restrictions, including multiple arrests for driving a car. In 2014, she was detained for 73 days after attempting to drive from Saudi Arabia to the UAE to protest the ban. Her advocacy highlighted systemic inequalities faced by women in the kingdom, earning her international recognition as a human rights defender.

In May 2018, al-Hathloul was arrested in the United Arab Emirates along with other prominent women's rights activists and forcibly deported to Saudi Arabia. She was charged with 'attempting to destabilize the kingdom' and other serious offenses under the regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Imprisoned for nearly three years from 2018 until her release in February 2021, she endured allegations of torture, including beatings and solitary confinement, as detailed in her 2023 memoir 'The Girl Who Dared to Drive.' Her ex-husband, comedian Fahad al-Butairi, was also arrested and detained in connection with her case after being returned from Jordan.

Post-release, al-Hathloul has continued her activism from exile, focusing on broader human rights issues in Saudi Arabia. She has received numerous awards, including the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize in 2021, and remains a vocal critic of the Saudi government's crackdown on dissent. Her work underscores the tensions between reform and repression in the kingdom's evolving social landscape.