Prince Khaled is for Women Driving

At the 2011 Jeddah Economic Forum, an event that brings thinkers, business people and students together, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Amir (governor) of the western Makkah region of Saudi Arabia, stated he is in favor of Saudi women driving. It wasn't part of his formal presentation, it was in response to a question about the issue from a Saudi woman in the audience, Shaima Jastania. The daily Saudi Gazette included that question and his response at the very end of a story on his presentation at the forum. Below is that excerpt. If you want to read the whole story, the link is here.

"Shaima Jastania, a Saudi female, asked about women driving in the Kingdom; Prince Khaled said it was not for him to decide and that he hopes to see Saudi women driving – along with better, safer driving."

Auto blogger writes up the Saudi women driving issue

An interesting blog about the automobile industry did a great post today on Saudi women driving. Some relevant stats and quotes about auto sales and marketing inside Saudi Arabia. He mentions this blog too - thanks for linking here, Ricardo!

Click on the title above to get to his piece.

Senior Saudi prince questions ban on women driving

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, long a supporter of improving Saudi women's rights, is speaking out in favor of Saudi women being permitted to drive. He sites social and economic reasons - that having to rely on a driver is burdensome on women and their families, and on a macro scale, it  requires a large foreign workforce. Click on the title of this post to read the full article.

Don't try to control our lives, say Saudi women

Arab News writer Rima al-Mukhtari interviewed young Saudi women about their attitudes toward change, and one of the issues they focused on was their desire to have the right to drive.

Most relevant quote from the article,

"One of our simple rights is to be able to drive to college. I don’t understand why it’s prohibited for us to be in the driving seat,” said 22-year-old Zakeyya Ghulman. “I’m sick and tired of the driver being late and busy with all the work my family is giving him — dropping my mom off at the doctor,  picking up my sister from school. I keep waiting for him for hours.”

You can read the entire story by clicking on the title of this post.

New Facebook petition in favor of Saudi women driving

A group of young people in Saudi Arabia have launched a petition to King Abdallah on Facebook in favor of Saudi women driving. They are looking for 15,000 signatures and have garnered nearly 2,000 so far.

Here is the link to the petition. To sign, you must be a Saudi national. If you are in favor of this petition, please sign and pass the link on.

Link to petition in favor of Saudi women driving

You can read the text of the article from the Saudi Gazette by linking to the title of this post.

Letter to editor against women driving - More public transport

The link above is to a letter to the editor of the Arab News written by Sarah Riaz. She is against women driving, due to the already bad traffic issues in Saudi Arabia. She suggests more public transportation. She also writes that women shouldn't drive for religious reasons. I'm including the story because the arguments against women driving are still out there, even among women.

Link to the title of this entry to read the story, and be sure to check out the story's comments.

Girl in men's clothes caught driving in Saudi

Emirates 24/7 reports that the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice  (CPVPV) caught a girl driving a car dressed as a man in Saudi Arabia's southern Asir province. She was driving in a 'speeding motorcade of cars'. When neighbors complained, the CPVPV went after the motorcade but only stopped one car, which was being driven by a girl dressed in men's clothes. They reportedly took her away for questioning.

Click on the title of this entry to read the full story.