Saudi Activist Manal al-Sharif Shares Her Story

Saudi women's rights and driving rights activist Manal al-Sharif visited the campus of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota last week. She was there to talk about her computer programming career at Saudi Aramco, and also gave a talk at a lunch about women driving in Saudi Arabia. I contacted one of the coordinators of the lunch to try to get more information about how the presentations went, but no one has returned my e-mails. So here is a story from the college paper. The story is pasted in below and a link to the story online is here.

An Angry Woman: Saudi Activist Manal al-Sharif Shares Her Story of Defiance and Liberation

January 31, 2013

Manal al-Sharif was angry.

A 30-year-old Saudi wife, mother and working professional, she faced harassment, sometimes violent, when walking down the street unaccompanied. “You deserve whatever happens to you when you uncover your face,” she was told. And despite her age and accomplishments, al-Sharif was still forced to hire a male driver if she wanted to avoid walking. In Saudi Arabia, while not technically illegal, it is socially unacceptable for women to drive.

The plight of al-Sharif and other Saudi women extends far beyond the right to drive. In 2009 the World Economic Forum ranked Saudi Arabia 131^st out of 134 countries in a survey of gender equality (the United States ranked 31^st). Women of any age are considered minors under Saudi law, and gender segregation pervades all sectors of Saudi society.

“Half the society is paralyzed,” al-Sharif said. “Driving is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Al-Sharif’s campaign for the right to drive in Saudi Arabia, and the backlash she faced from many Saudis, was the subject of a talk and discussion session recently held at Carleton College. During the event, which was sponsored by the Women’s Awareness House, students had the opportunity to ask al-Sharif questions about her experiences, the political situation in Saudi Arabia and the prospects for change.

Al-Sharif’s campaign began as a personal act of defiance, she told the Carleton audience. On her birthday in the spring of 2011, she decided to violate the unwritten laws of Saudi Arabia and drive a car. A friend in the car with al-Sharif filmed the drive and posted the video to YouTube. It was her way of saying “enough is enough,” she said.

The video soon attracted national and worldwide attention, garnering millions of views. Al-Sharif noted that Saudi Arabia and many other Arab countries are heavy users of modern technology—60% of Saudis have smartphones—and that social media such as Twitter has been used to spur social change in places like Iran and Egypt as well as Saudi Arabia.

Al-Sharif was detained, released and rearrested by the Saudi government, charged with “inciting women to drive” and “rallying public opinion.” She helped create Women2Drive, an advocacy group supportive of the right to drive, and began pursuing legal action for the right to drive. Though there is no law against female drivers, Saudis require a locally issued license in order to drive, and these licenses are not issued to women.

In response to a question about whether social change is possible in Saudi Arabia, al-Sharif said that the first step was letting women know they have rights, which is part of Women2Drive’s goal.

“Change in any society starts with women,” al-Sharif said. “Women are so powerful, but they don’t recognize their power.”

Al-Sharif noted that many of the most vicious attacks on her have come from Saudi women, many of whom are “programmed” to believe themselves inferior to men. Without understanding their rights, it will be hard for Saudi women to stand up for themselves.

Nevertheless, Women2Drive has continued its campaign, expanding its fight to include other rights for women. While al-Sharif believes that a major shift will only come with the creation of a constitutional monarchy, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon, she believes her organization can gradually achieve real progress for Saudi women.

“I will not stop until the first drivers’ license is issued to a woman,” al-Sharif said.

Written by Jacob Cohn '13