Excellent opinion piece in today's Saudi Gazette (originally in Al-Jazira) by Dr. Thurayyah Al-Aredh. A link to the story is here, and the text is pasted below.
by Dr. Thurayyah Al-Aredh
THE other evening we were invited to a party in Bahrain by a Saudi
friend who shuttles between both countries. When we arrived at the
venue, our host was not there to receive us. After a long wait he
arrived visibly worried and upset.
He explained to us that the foreign driver who was driving his wife and
kids was apprehended by the Saudi authorities on King Fahd Causeway for
trying to smuggle some bottles of whisky. He said he had to go to the
causeway to drive his family back home.
I have to admit that this is not the first time I hear about the arrest
of a family driver on the causeway for smuggling of liquor. Personally I
have been without a driver for about a whole year now after we have
decided not to bring back our Filipino driver because of his numerous
violations and stealing of our household goods.
My husband and my son are working in Riyadh. We are away from each other
but I am certain that living away from the family is somewhat easier
than living without a car.
The sad side of the story is that I am a holder of a driving license
which I acquired while I was a university student abroad. I have not
been able to use this driving license since I returned home.
Three decades have passed with me waiting hopelessly for the Interior
Ministry to reach a decision allowing women to drive. Such a decision
will rid us of the need to employ foreign drivers and live under their
mercy. Women driving cars is not a fashion trend or an ostentatious
phenomenon but a real and pressing need.
The faltering relationship between the importers of workers and the
foreign manpower themselves has its adverse effects deepening the
tension in our families and homes. The two sides have been exchanging
accusations that included lies and distorted facts. These accusations
culminate in defamation and financial loss.
Foreign manpower has been accused of all vices including child abuse,
physical violence, sorcery, brewing and smuggling of alcohol and murder.
On their part, the foreign workers have been accusing their sponsors of
exploiting them, not paying their salaries and even physically abusing
them.
I often ask myself: What makes us import foreign house helps? Can’t we
ever do without them? Are there no solutions except for recruitment with
all its evils?
It is quite justifiable to import foreign manpower to work in the
advanced technological fields but to bring them to work in our homes and
live among our families is not understandable. We should seek alternate
solutions to our needs other than recruitment.
The importing of drivers has become more perilous than the recruitment
of housemaids. As soon as the drivers know our streets, they will not
fail to find those who will give them all kinds of criminal advice.
Time has come to get rid of the millions of the foreign drivers in our
country. Let the Saudi women drive and the problem will be solved
forever. By driving our own cars we will save a lot of resources for the
economy. We will be a lot safer as well and will sleep in peace and
security.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
A fresh perspective on women drivers
Columnist Tariq A. Al Maeena writes an interesting op-ed in the Gulf News - a water conservation justification for changing the law in Saudi Arabia to allow women to drive. The story is pasted below and a link to it is here.
By Tariq A. Al Maeena - December 1, 2012 - Jeddah -
By giving women the right to drive, Saudi Arabia can conserve water consumed by the approximately million expatriate drivers and reduce the skyrocketing costs of desalination
What is it that attracts these visitors from a nearby country? It is certainly not the weather as there are no significant climatic differences between the two countries. Nor is there a dramatic change in topography that may induce some to visit. Shops and restaurants are not much different in both countries. Yet in the balance of travel, visitors from the Saudi side most likely outnumber their UAE counterparts by 10 to 1.
There are significant reasons then that would attract someone to make the trip from Saudi Arabia to the UAE. The first is that they find the UAE more similar than different from their own culture. And besides a host of other reasons such as world class entertainment, there is the compelling draw of a country that places no unjustified restrictions on its women.
Suzanne, a resident of Jeddah, offers her own perspective on the matter: “It’s all about personal freedom. The UAE is an Islamic country which follows a similar code as in Saudi Arabia, yet allows women choices that we find denied here. And the number one irritant and nuisance to all women here is not allowing them to drive their own cars. Perhaps we can attempt to get a discussion going in the Majlis Al Shura pertaining to this matter by using a different logic; perhaps the argument of conservation?”
Doing the math
“The desalination plant in Saudi Arabia produces 1 million cubic metres of water per day. That’s 365 million cubic metres a year. If we had a million less drivers we would only need 275 million cubic metres. The Shuaiba desalination plant would thus have 25 per cent surplus water for people to use if women could drive their own cars. Double check the math.
“The same approximate figures would hold true for electricity consumption. Even if drivers were to be slowly phased out, this would amount to an enormous saving for the country in terms of water, energy, and of course finances as well. The employment of drivers is becoming an increasing financial burden.
“Some women’s salaries are spent solely on a driver’s expenses. Should women then not receive government subsidies for each household, as compensation for the expenses of having to pay recruiting agencies, visas, air fare, medical check- ups, driver’s licences, traffic tickets, extra living quarters, furniture, insurance, meals, medical bills and medication, and of course water and electricity etc., in addition to drivers’ salaries?
“What a huge financial burden for a country with a shrinking middle class, and with minimum wages not much higher than that paid to a driver brought in from a developing country, many of whom have never driven a car before coming to work in Saudi Arabia. That brings up the safety issue as well: Safety on the road, safety allowing one’s children day in and day out in the presence of a stranger.
“Which leads me to my next point. The burden of women being banned from driving is also of a psychological and social nature. How has a conservative society such as Saudi Arabia ever allowed itself to bring total strangers into their homes, not knowing the slightest thing about their past, or their moral conduct? It’s a mystery. The whole issue of the ban on women driving is a mystery and a paradox. And you wonder why we all escape to the UAE? Perhaps it’s because they have got it right!”
And thus Suzanne concludes her argument with such a novel defence. In that she has chosen an original slant to a social issue of growing concern is indicative that this issue will not simply go away. Nor will those marginalised by social restrictions that confine and constrict their personal development be silent forever. The blanket of traditions and beliefs should be shed from the body of this issue.
It is then that perhaps we would become more in line with the UAE.
Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah
By Tariq A. Al Maeena - December 1, 2012 - Jeddah -
By giving women the right to drive, Saudi Arabia can conserve water consumed by the approximately million expatriate drivers and reduce the skyrocketing costs of desalination
- Image Credit: Luis Vazquez
The UAE has become a magnet for the rest of the Gulf Cooperation
Council states. Tourists have been flocking in by the hundreds of
thousands. The bulk of the visitors from the Arabian peninsula in recent
times have been from Saudi Arabia. And they don’t just visit only once.
Families make the bulk of visitors, but there are also a sizeable
number of single males and females who venture to the UAE on their own.
What is it that attracts these visitors from a nearby country? It is certainly not the weather as there are no significant climatic differences between the two countries. Nor is there a dramatic change in topography that may induce some to visit. Shops and restaurants are not much different in both countries. Yet in the balance of travel, visitors from the Saudi side most likely outnumber their UAE counterparts by 10 to 1.
There are significant reasons then that would attract someone to make the trip from Saudi Arabia to the UAE. The first is that they find the UAE more similar than different from their own culture. And besides a host of other reasons such as world class entertainment, there is the compelling draw of a country that places no unjustified restrictions on its women.
Suzanne, a resident of Jeddah, offers her own perspective on the matter: “It’s all about personal freedom. The UAE is an Islamic country which follows a similar code as in Saudi Arabia, yet allows women choices that we find denied here. And the number one irritant and nuisance to all women here is not allowing them to drive their own cars. Perhaps we can attempt to get a discussion going in the Majlis Al Shura pertaining to this matter by using a different logic; perhaps the argument of conservation?”
Doing the math
She continued: “The fastest and least expensive way to conserve water
and other resources in Saudi Arabia and save some of our outbound
tourist dollars would be to allow women to drive! Where is the
connection? Allow me to give an explanation in a very rough estimate of
figures: If women were given the right to drive, approximately a million
drivers could eventually be sent back to their home countries. Each one
of these men consumes about 300 litres of water a day, (about one-third
cubic metres). That’s 300 million litres per day for a million drivers.
That’s 90 billion litres per year, with allowances made for their
vacation time. That’s 90 million cubic metres per year of water consumed
by drivers alone.
“The desalination plant in Saudi Arabia produces 1 million cubic metres of water per day. That’s 365 million cubic metres a year. If we had a million less drivers we would only need 275 million cubic metres. The Shuaiba desalination plant would thus have 25 per cent surplus water for people to use if women could drive their own cars. Double check the math.
“The same approximate figures would hold true for electricity consumption. Even if drivers were to be slowly phased out, this would amount to an enormous saving for the country in terms of water, energy, and of course finances as well. The employment of drivers is becoming an increasing financial burden.
“Some women’s salaries are spent solely on a driver’s expenses. Should women then not receive government subsidies for each household, as compensation for the expenses of having to pay recruiting agencies, visas, air fare, medical check- ups, driver’s licences, traffic tickets, extra living quarters, furniture, insurance, meals, medical bills and medication, and of course water and electricity etc., in addition to drivers’ salaries?
“What a huge financial burden for a country with a shrinking middle class, and with minimum wages not much higher than that paid to a driver brought in from a developing country, many of whom have never driven a car before coming to work in Saudi Arabia. That brings up the safety issue as well: Safety on the road, safety allowing one’s children day in and day out in the presence of a stranger.
“Which leads me to my next point. The burden of women being banned from driving is also of a psychological and social nature. How has a conservative society such as Saudi Arabia ever allowed itself to bring total strangers into their homes, not knowing the slightest thing about their past, or their moral conduct? It’s a mystery. The whole issue of the ban on women driving is a mystery and a paradox. And you wonder why we all escape to the UAE? Perhaps it’s because they have got it right!”
And thus Suzanne concludes her argument with such a novel defence. In that she has chosen an original slant to a social issue of growing concern is indicative that this issue will not simply go away. Nor will those marginalised by social restrictions that confine and constrict their personal development be silent forever. The blanket of traditions and beliefs should be shed from the body of this issue.
It is then that perhaps we would become more in line with the UAE.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Video on Saudi Youth and Driving Culture
Many in Saudi Arabia say they would love to see women driving, only the driving culture is not quite safe enough for women to take the wheel. While I argue that women on the road would calm things down and literally slow the traffic, this YouTube video explains their point of view.
Hmmmm!
Hmmmm!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Third Saudi woman sues for right to drive
The Independent On-line daily of South Africa has printed an AFP story that Nassimah al-Sadah of Riyadh is suing the traffic department in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province for the right to drive. A link to the story is here and the story is pasted below.
Saudi woman sues over driving ban
Riyadh - A Saudi women's rights activist said
on Monday she has filed a lawsuit against the interior ministry over a
decree banning women from obtaining driving licences in the
ultra-conservative kingdom.
Nassima al-Sadah is the third woman to file
such a lawsuit this year over the rule which enforces a traditional ban
on women driving in the Muslim desert nation.
“I filed the lawsuit against the traffic
department of the interior ministry at the Dammam court” in Eastern
Province, she saidtold AFP.
Before her, Manal al-Sharif, who became a
symbol of a campaign to drive after she was arrested last year for
defying the ban, and rights activist Samar Badawi also filed similar
lawsuits.
Sadah said she made a point by trying repeatedly to apply for a driving licence at the traffic department in Eastern Province.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving.
In June 2011, women activists launched a
Women2Drive campaign on social media networks, with many also braving
the ban and posting videos of themselves driving.
The following June, activists cancelled plans
to get behind the steering wheel on the first anniversary of their
campaign, opting instead to petition King Abdullah to lift the ban.
Their campaign, which spread through Facebook
and Twitter, was the largest mass action since November 1990, when 47
Saudi women were arrested and punished after demonstrating in cars.
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. - AFP
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Saudi women subvert sexist discrimination with their own 'cyber civil society'
Story from Wire Magazine about Saudi women using cyber space to promote the women driving campaign. A link to the story is here, and the text is pasted in below.
26 October 12
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Saudi Police deny report woman arrested for driving
Gulf News reports about a Saudi woman driving incident in Al Baha, in Saudi Arabia's southwest.
A link to the story is here, and the text is pasted below.
A link to the story is here, and the text is pasted below.
Daughter drove car after father felt incapacitated and needed help
- By Habib Toumi Bureau chief
- Published: 12:45 October 17, 2012
Manama: A Saudi police spokesman has denied claims that a woman has been arrested for driving her father’s car.
“The reports that a woman was seen driving a car with her father
sitting next to her are true,” Sa’ad Saleh Tarrad, media spokesman for
Al Baha police, said. “However, the investigation concluded that the
father felt ill and could not drive, so he asked his daughter to drive
the car. Both the man and his daughter were released immediately after
they were questioned and there was no arrest,” he said, quoted by Al
Madina daily on Wednesday.
Reports claimed that the woman was held by the police after she was
caught driving in the Saudi Arabian southwestern city. No legal text
bans Saudi women from driving, but deep-rooted customs have not allowed
women to sit behind the steering wheel as a bitter standoff between
activists calling for granting them the right and conservatives who see
it as a gateway to serious social problems has intensified.
Reports about women arrested for driving have invariably mobilised
forces in both camps to call for their release or to condemn their
challenge to the local customs. In the absence of legal texts regulating
the matter, punishment for women who were “caught” driving ranged from
signing pledges not to drive to corporal measures.
Last year, King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz overturned a sentence of 10 lashes handed down to a woman who defied the driving ban.
Several bloggers said that the sentence against the woman, Shaima
Jastaina, had to be condemned as an expression to stall a pro-women
reform drive launched by King Abdullah that included giving women the
right to vote and run in municipal elections and becoming members of the
Shura Council, the country’s highest advisory authority.
Friday, October 12, 2012
“We cannot go back to the fifteenth century” says Princess Basma bint Saud
Interesting article about and interview with Princess Basma bint Saud, who gave a talk at Cambridge University in the UK. She comments on women driving toward the end. She is against the idea right now - as she believes it would put women in danger. A link to the story is here, and it's pasted in below.
Isabella Cookson meets the Saudi Princess after her
talk at the Cambridge Union Society
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