In 2006, Al-Khawaja was part of the delegation that went to the UN building in New York City and met with the Secretary-General’s assistant to hand over the mass petition of demanding that the Prime Minister resign, due to his human rights violations.

The government led a smear campaign in the media against the group of activists that spoke at this session including Al-Khawaja, and their case was adopted by organizations such as Frontline, OMCT and FIDH.

After actively participating in the organizing of the early pro-democracy demonstrations in 2011, Al-Khawaja embarked on an overseas speaking tour at colleges and conferences.

According to Joe Stork of Human Rights Watch, BCHR recommended that she stay abroad given the likelihood of arrest if she returned.

[4] In April, al-Khawaja participated in the U.S.-Islamic World Forum,[7] where she was able to speak to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and tell the story of her father and two brothers in-law arrest.

[13] Immediately after her speech to the Oslo Freedom Forum (streamed live online) a Twitter campaign began, accusing her of spreading false news, being a radical and working for the Iranian government.

[9] According to FIDH, in early May 2011, an anonymous smear campaign was launched against Nabeel Rajab and Al-Khawaja "with the active support of the Bahraini authorities.

[16] She currently has an outstanding arrest warrant, and has four pending cases, one of which is filed under the Terrorism Law and could carry a life sentence or the death penalty.