 Al-Balawi was the first in a 2018 wave of arrests of women's rights activists involved in the women to drive movement and the anti male-guardianship campaign.ALQST described the series of arrests as an "unprecedented targeting of women human rights defenders" while United Nations special rapporteurs called them a "crackdown".In August 2018, ALQST called for the dropping of charges against Israa al-Ghomgham, a human rights advocate especially known for her documentation of and participation in the Qatif unrest that started in 2011 and continued during 2017–18.