This opinion piece by Maha Al-Shehri appeared in the Saudi Arabic daily Okaz and was translated and printed in the English daily Saudi Gazette on May 14, 2017. A link to the story can be found here, and the text is below.
By Maha Al-Shehri
Okaz
SEVERAL incidents of women being saviors or heroes,
especially when their men developed sudden health problems while behind
the wheel, have been reported in the media.
Recently a female university student became the hero when
she rose to the occasion and took the wheel after the driver of her
university bus fainted. Ashwaq Al-Shamri of Hail University took the bus
and the driver to safety. The news of the incident was widely
circulated on social media.
The female student was able to avert an accident and save
the bus driver by driving him to hospital because she had learned
driving despite the ban on women driving existing in the country.
There is no legal basis for preventing women from driving
but the Kingdom has so far failed to allow its female citizens to
exercise this legitimate right.
I believe that every woman should learn driving as a skill
even if she does not own a vehicle or may not obtain a driving license
in the near future. We have seen men learning cooking even though they
do not cook on a daily basis.
The mastering of a skill will enable us to use it whenever a
need arises. It will help us deal with various life situations boldly
and efficiently.
It is high time that we overcome the mentality that women
are incapable and inferior beings. We have limited women’s roles
treating them as weak despite their capabilities, aptitude and
decision-making prowess.
People have to recognize that women are no less than men in terms of
qualifications and efficiency. Women are partners of men in every walk
of life.
Even while considering women as mentors of new generations
and protectors of families, some of us wrongly believe that they are
incompetent in most matters, which they think are reserved for men.
In a nutshell, we should teach our women how to drive for
the sake of themselves and others. A situation may arise at any point of
our life where we will not find anyone except women as saviors as has
occurred in the case of the Hail bus driver.
Showing posts with label Hail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hail. Show all posts
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Saudi woman driver reported killed in car crash is alive
A link to the story is here, and the text is below.
Anti-driving ban campaigner Manal al-Sharif says unnamed desert woman was victim in fatal Jeddah crash
reddit this Martin Chulov
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 January 2012 09.57 EST larger
The woman reported killed in car crash in Saudi Arabia has told the Guardian she is alive, and the real victim was an unnamed member of a desert community.
Manal al-Sharif, the figurehead of a Saudi female driving campaign, said the woman who died in the fatal accident near Jeddah on Monday was not part of a group trying to overturn laws that ban women from taking the wheel.
Sharif and Rasha al-Dowiia, another woman who has defied the kingdom's laws banning female drivers, said officials largely ignored the small bedouin community to which the dead woman belonged, in an area named Ha'el. They said women regularly drove there but police left them alone because the bedouin were detached from mainstream Saudi society.
The dead woman's family is withholding her name. A second woman was injured in the accident and remains in hospital.
A slowly growing number of Saudi women are trying to force changes to laws that stop them from driving. Saudi Arabia enforces a hardline interpretation of Islamic law, and is one of the very few countries in the world to deny women the right to drive.
A vigorous internet campaign began last year, in which women such as Sharif, 32, a computer security consultant, were filmed behind the wheel. Videos posted to YouTube led to renewed scrutiny of the issue but failed to force a change to the law.
Sharif and Dowiia were both briefly jailed last year, and a third women who also drove was sentenced to 10 lashes. However, the sentence was overturned after the intervention of King Abdullah.
© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Anti-driving ban campaigner Manal al-Sharif says unnamed desert woman was victim in fatal Jeddah crash
reddit this Martin Chulov
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 January 2012 09.57 EST larger
The woman reported killed in car crash in Saudi Arabia has told the Guardian she is alive, and the real victim was an unnamed member of a desert community.
Manal al-Sharif, the figurehead of a Saudi female driving campaign, said the woman who died in the fatal accident near Jeddah on Monday was not part of a group trying to overturn laws that ban women from taking the wheel.
Sharif and Rasha al-Dowiia, another woman who has defied the kingdom's laws banning female drivers, said officials largely ignored the small bedouin community to which the dead woman belonged, in an area named Ha'el. They said women regularly drove there but police left them alone because the bedouin were detached from mainstream Saudi society.
The dead woman's family is withholding her name. A second woman was injured in the accident and remains in hospital.
A slowly growing number of Saudi women are trying to force changes to laws that stop them from driving. Saudi Arabia enforces a hardline interpretation of Islamic law, and is one of the very few countries in the world to deny women the right to drive.
A vigorous internet campaign began last year, in which women such as Sharif, 32, a computer security consultant, were filmed behind the wheel. Videos posted to YouTube led to renewed scrutiny of the issue but failed to force a change to the law.
Sharif and Dowiia were both briefly jailed last year, and a third women who also drove was sentenced to 10 lashes. However, the sentence was overturned after the intervention of King Abdullah.
© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Saudi female driver defies ban, has fatal accident
A link to the story is here, and text pasted in below.
A Saudi woman who defied a driving ban in the kingdom was injured and her companion killed when their car overturned in the northern Hael province, a police spokesman said on Monday
AFP - Published: 17:18 January 23, 2012
Jeddah: A Saudi woman who defied a driving ban in the kingdom was injured and her companion killed when their car overturned in the northern Hael province, a police spokesman said on Monday.
One woman was immediately killed and her companion who was driving the car was hospitalised after she suffered several injuries" when their four-wheel-drive vehicle overturned late on Saturday, said police spokesman Abdul Aziz Al Zunaidi.
Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.
However, they get behind the wheel in desert regions away from the capital.
There have been several incidents reported in recent years of women being killed in accidents while driving despite the ban, one of a host of restrictions imposed on women in the kingdom.
In November 2010, a Saudi who defied the driving ban was killed along with three of her 10 female passengers when her car overturned in a crash.
A group of activists launched an Internet campaign last year urging Saudi women to defy the ban on driving.
The icon of the campaign, Manal Al Sherif, a 32-year-old computer security consultant, was arrested on May 22 and detained for 10 days after posting on YouTube a video of herself driving her car around the eastern city of Khobar.
Since then, women regularly get behind the wheels of their cars, according to the activists.
Five Saudi women were arrested while driving in late June in Jeddah.
Women in the kingdom who have the means hire drivers while others must depend on the goodwill of male relatives. They are also obliged to be veiled in public, and cannot travel unless accompanied by their husbands or a close male relative.
A Saudi woman who defied a driving ban in the kingdom was injured and her companion killed when their car overturned in the northern Hael province, a police spokesman said on Monday
AFP - Published: 17:18 January 23, 2012
Jeddah: A Saudi woman who defied a driving ban in the kingdom was injured and her companion killed when their car overturned in the northern Hael province, a police spokesman said on Monday.
One woman was immediately killed and her companion who was driving the car was hospitalised after she suffered several injuries" when their four-wheel-drive vehicle overturned late on Saturday, said police spokesman Abdul Aziz Al Zunaidi.
Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.
However, they get behind the wheel in desert regions away from the capital.
There have been several incidents reported in recent years of women being killed in accidents while driving despite the ban, one of a host of restrictions imposed on women in the kingdom.
In November 2010, a Saudi who defied the driving ban was killed along with three of her 10 female passengers when her car overturned in a crash.
A group of activists launched an Internet campaign last year urging Saudi women to defy the ban on driving.
The icon of the campaign, Manal Al Sherif, a 32-year-old computer security consultant, was arrested on May 22 and detained for 10 days after posting on YouTube a video of herself driving her car around the eastern city of Khobar.
Since then, women regularly get behind the wheels of their cars, according to the activists.
Five Saudi women were arrested while driving in late June in Jeddah.
Women in the kingdom who have the means hire drivers while others must depend on the goodwill of male relatives. They are also obliged to be veiled in public, and cannot travel unless accompanied by their husbands or a close male relative.
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