Here is a link to a facebook poll in Arabic about whether you support Saudi women driving. If you agree, fill in the top button, which means, 'yes.'
Link is here As of this moment, believe it or not, the 'no's' are ahead - it's about 10,000 against women driving, just shy of 8,000 for women driving. So vote yes and get your friends to do the same.
Thanks for Sherifa Zuhur for posting the poll on her facebook page.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Three women defy Saudi driving ban during holidays
Emirates 24/7 reports that during the Eid al-Fitr holidays three women in Saudi Arabia reported they went out driving, with no problems from the authorities.
Three women defy Saudi ban on driving
Three Saudi women took
advantage of Eid Al-Fitr that ended the fasting month of Ramadan and drove their
cars in defiance of a long-standing ban on female driving in the conservative
Gulf Kingdom, newspapers said on Monday.
Two women
separately sat behind the wheel and drove cars through the streets of the
western Red Sea port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second largest city. Another
woman in the eastern province of Ihsa drove her car for several hours to visit
relatives on Eid occasion, the papers reported.
“I drove my
car for hours but I was not stopped by the police or harassed by men although I
stopped for petrol,” said Tahani Al Jahni from Jeddah.
Tarfa
Abdullah from Ihsa said she drove her car to visit relatives and friends and
returned home without any incident.
“Police did
not stop me although I drove for several hours…I have a driving licence from
another Arab country,” she said. “I was very happy to drive and return home
without any incident because I don’t want to wait for taxi for hours…private
drivers have also become too expensive.”
A link to the story is here
Monday, August 29, 2011
Shoura council discusses urgent solutions to women's transport, not women driving
Saudi Arabia's Shoura Council is discussing urgent measures to take to relieve the women's transportation issue. Below is the Saudi Gazette's coverage of the story. But no one mentions, not one word, the huge 'elephant in the room'....why not just let women drive? Public transportation has been tried - the Saudi bus system has separate seating for women - but it's not highly used by Saudi women. A link to the story is here
JEDDAH – Amid the high costs to Saudi families that employ drivers, the suffering of female employees due to the lack of means of transportation to their jobs and regulations barring women from driving, suggestions have been put forward to develop safe means of transport that are similar to those in foreign countries.
Experts said there is a serious need to address the matter because some families are forced to pay thousands of riyals to drivers, which can cause a financial burden on the families. Some drivers demand higher salaries, which can make it unbearable for families in need of their services. Taking taxis every day adds up to a considerable expense and male family members are often unavailable.
Dr. Mish’al Al-Ali, a member of the Shoura Council and chairman of the Petitions Committee, called on the government and the private sector to create a temporary system, which would replace payment of transportation allowances, to safely transport female employees to and from their jobs, Al-Hayat Arabic daily reported Friday.
A system of this nature would safeguard the female employees’ dignity and ensure they are not subjected to the taxi drivers’ monopolies, he added.
The permanent solution should be to provide a means of public transportation with precise schedules, similar to those in advanced countries, which suit the conservative nature of Saudi women and their social status.
He pointed out that many people in other countries use public transportation and they do not find anything wrong in doing so because it is up to the required standard.
The need for effective public transportation has increased as employment of women has grown, Dr. Al-Ali said.
“In implementation of the royal orders, large numbers of women have been employed in many government departments,” he said. “Women are enjoying their rights in getting employment and there are equal opportunities for women and men in all the government departments.”
Dr. Al-Ali said creating a means of public transportation needs “a vision and a feasibility study. After that we will find that the private sector will rush for these projects.”
Setting up an effective public transportation system would also address other problems such as traffic jams, he added.
Providing the transportation system does not need a detailed study, he said, but taking a decision and dealing with the issue pragmatically.
He also proposed that some government departments arrange with some companies owning taxis, minibuses and similar vehicles to transport female employees to and from their jobs and charge low fares.
“We need courageous, strong ideas that can be implemented on the ground,” Dr. Al-Ali stressed. “All the capabilities are easily available, but the problem is in not taking decisions at the right time and not dealing with the problem immediately.”
Dr. Hamad Al-Qadhi, another member of the Shoura Council, agreed that providing transportation for female employees has become a necessity.
“Women are now working in many government and private authorities, and institutions,” he said. “There are some women whose places of work are far away from their residences.” He pointed out that it can be difficult for women to find a male family member to drive her to and from work because the men have their own work commitments.
Not all women have drivers, he pointed out, taking taxi cabs every day is expensive and it is appropriate to address the matter.
“If we realize that women are barred from driving cars in our country, it is a duty to provide them with public transportation,” he said.
Dr. Al-Qadhi said he understands that some government departments and universities provide secure transport for female students and employees. “I believe that there are companies for transporting female students and teachers,” he said. “This means of transport can be provided to female employees in the other sectors.”
Dr. Al-Qadhi, who reiterated that the work of the Shoura Council is legislative and supervisory, said providing transportation is an executive matter and the responsibility of the government and private authorities.
Dr. Asia Aal Al-Sheikh, a Shoura Council adviser, stressed that a “respectable” means of public transportation should be provided to female employees so a lack of transportation does not prevent them from going to work. Dr. Aal Al-Sheikh admitted that providing transportation is a big problem that needs to be resolved.
She cited problems female teachers face, including accidents that have claimed many lives, when they travel to and from their schools.
Dr. Aal Al-Sheikh expressed concern about “our dependence on inexperienced drivers.”
She said this subject has not been put forward for discussion in the right way and at the right place.
There are no women in decision-making positions so nobody speaks on behalf of women, she added.
Dr. Aal-Al-Sheikh referred to a study by Khadija Bint Khuwailid Center, which said resolving the problem should be a priority.
“However, I don’t know that anything has been done about it,” she said. “There are people working and expressing their demands, but one does not know where the fault lies.”
The majority of taxi drivers interviewed by Al-Hayat said most of their clients, up to 75 percent of them, are female citizens and expatriates.
The drivers said the women take taxis because there is no alternative. — SG __
Shoura members want urgent, safe transport solution for women
JEDDAH – Amid the high costs to Saudi families that employ drivers, the suffering of female employees due to the lack of means of transportation to their jobs and regulations barring women from driving, suggestions have been put forward to develop safe means of transport that are similar to those in foreign countries.
Experts said there is a serious need to address the matter because some families are forced to pay thousands of riyals to drivers, which can cause a financial burden on the families. Some drivers demand higher salaries, which can make it unbearable for families in need of their services. Taking taxis every day adds up to a considerable expense and male family members are often unavailable.
Dr. Mish’al Al-Ali, a member of the Shoura Council and chairman of the Petitions Committee, called on the government and the private sector to create a temporary system, which would replace payment of transportation allowances, to safely transport female employees to and from their jobs, Al-Hayat Arabic daily reported Friday.
A system of this nature would safeguard the female employees’ dignity and ensure they are not subjected to the taxi drivers’ monopolies, he added.
The permanent solution should be to provide a means of public transportation with precise schedules, similar to those in advanced countries, which suit the conservative nature of Saudi women and their social status.
He pointed out that many people in other countries use public transportation and they do not find anything wrong in doing so because it is up to the required standard.
The need for effective public transportation has increased as employment of women has grown, Dr. Al-Ali said.
“In implementation of the royal orders, large numbers of women have been employed in many government departments,” he said. “Women are enjoying their rights in getting employment and there are equal opportunities for women and men in all the government departments.”
Dr. Al-Ali said creating a means of public transportation needs “a vision and a feasibility study. After that we will find that the private sector will rush for these projects.”
Setting up an effective public transportation system would also address other problems such as traffic jams, he added.
Providing the transportation system does not need a detailed study, he said, but taking a decision and dealing with the issue pragmatically.
He also proposed that some government departments arrange with some companies owning taxis, minibuses and similar vehicles to transport female employees to and from their jobs and charge low fares.
“We need courageous, strong ideas that can be implemented on the ground,” Dr. Al-Ali stressed. “All the capabilities are easily available, but the problem is in not taking decisions at the right time and not dealing with the problem immediately.”
Dr. Hamad Al-Qadhi, another member of the Shoura Council, agreed that providing transportation for female employees has become a necessity.
“Women are now working in many government and private authorities, and institutions,” he said. “There are some women whose places of work are far away from their residences.” He pointed out that it can be difficult for women to find a male family member to drive her to and from work because the men have their own work commitments.
Not all women have drivers, he pointed out, taking taxi cabs every day is expensive and it is appropriate to address the matter.
“If we realize that women are barred from driving cars in our country, it is a duty to provide them with public transportation,” he said.
Dr. Al-Qadhi said he understands that some government departments and universities provide secure transport for female students and employees. “I believe that there are companies for transporting female students and teachers,” he said. “This means of transport can be provided to female employees in the other sectors.”
Dr. Al-Qadhi, who reiterated that the work of the Shoura Council is legislative and supervisory, said providing transportation is an executive matter and the responsibility of the government and private authorities.
Dr. Asia Aal Al-Sheikh, a Shoura Council adviser, stressed that a “respectable” means of public transportation should be provided to female employees so a lack of transportation does not prevent them from going to work. Dr. Aal Al-Sheikh admitted that providing transportation is a big problem that needs to be resolved.
She cited problems female teachers face, including accidents that have claimed many lives, when they travel to and from their schools.
Dr. Aal Al-Sheikh expressed concern about “our dependence on inexperienced drivers.”
She said this subject has not been put forward for discussion in the right way and at the right place.
There are no women in decision-making positions so nobody speaks on behalf of women, she added.
Dr. Aal-Al-Sheikh referred to a study by Khadija Bint Khuwailid Center, which said resolving the problem should be a priority.
“However, I don’t know that anything has been done about it,” she said. “There are people working and expressing their demands, but one does not know where the fault lies.”
The majority of taxi drivers interviewed by Al-Hayat said most of their clients, up to 75 percent of them, are female citizens and expatriates.
The drivers said the women take taxis because there is no alternative. — SG __
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Saudi woman campaigner briefly arrested for driving
Below is the latest updated AFP story about Najla Hariri's arrest and release, with some quotes from her. A link to the story is here
Najla Hariri was arrested while driving to the office of her daughter, Dalia.
"My mother was taken to the police station," the daughter said.
Hariri was later released after her husband came to the police station where she said she was "treated politely."
"I have not signed any commitment that forbids me from driving", Hariri told AFP after her release, adding that she repeatedly told the police that there was no law in Saudi Arabia which forbids women from driving.
Since mid-May, Hariri who campaigns for women's rights, has driven around Jeddah several times without being arrested.
She is among a group of activists who launched an Internet campaign on June 17 urging women to defy the ban on driving in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Since then, women regularly get behind the wheels of their cars, according to the activists.
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.
Five Saudi women were arrested at the wheels of their cars 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 without their husbands or a close male relative.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.
Saudi woman campaigner briefly arrested for driving
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — A Saudi mother was freed after she was briefly arrested in the western city of Jeddah on Wednesday for defying a ban on women drivers, she and her daughter told AFP.Najla Hariri was arrested while driving to the office of her daughter, Dalia.
"My mother was taken to the police station," the daughter said.
Hariri was later released after her husband came to the police station where she said she was "treated politely."
"I have not signed any commitment that forbids me from driving", Hariri told AFP after her release, adding that she repeatedly told the police that there was no law in Saudi Arabia which forbids women from driving.
Since mid-May, Hariri who campaigns for women's rights, has driven around Jeddah several times without being arrested.
She is among a group of activists who launched an Internet campaign on June 17 urging women to defy the ban on driving in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Since then, women regularly get behind the wheels of their cars, according to the activists.
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.
Five Saudi women were arrested at the wheels of their cars 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 without their husbands or a close male relative.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Saudi woman campaigner arrested for driving
The Khaleej Times reports an AFP story that Jeddah mother Najla Hariri was arrested for driving. She has been out behind the wheel for months, and until now, has not been arrested. The text of the story is below, and a link to the story in the Khaleej Times is here
Update: I just tweeted my post and learned from #women2drive, that Ms. Hariri has been released and refused to sign a pledge not to drive again. If you want to keep up to the minute on this issue, check out: #women2drive on Twitter. Thank you all on Twitter!
Saudi woman campaigner arrested for driving
(AFP)
24 August 2011
24 August 2011
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — A Saudi mother was arrested in the western city of Jeddah on Wednesday for defying a ban on women drivers, her daughter told AFP.
Najla Hariri was arrested while driving to the office of her daughter, Dalia.
“My mother was taken to the police station,” the daughter said.
Since mid-May, Hariri who campaigns for women’s rights, has driven around Jeddah several times without being arrested.
She is among a group of activists who launched an Internet campaign on June 17 urging women to defy the ban on driving in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Since then, women regularly get behind the wheels of their cars, according to the activists.
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.
Five Saudi women were arrested at the wheels of their cars in late June in Jeddah.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Drive For Equality - Automobile Magazine
The October, 2011 issue of Automobile Magazine has a nice feature with interviews about the Saudi women driving issues, by David Zenlea. At the end of the article are some important milestones in the history of women driving in the U.S. and Europe. A link to the story is here.
Drive for Equality - by David Zenlea
Drive for Equality - by David Zenlea
Amid the tumult of the Middle East's so-called Arab Spring, Saudi women have been quietly agitating for something most Westerners older than sixteen take for granted: the right to drive. Several women, organizing via Facebook and Twitter, got behind the wheel last June in a public protest. A few were arrested and otherwise harassed, but the campaign continues on the Internet and has recently included calls for automakers -- namely Subaru -- to stop selling cars in a country where not all are allowed to drive them.
We spoke on the phone with Aziza al-Yousef, a fifty-two-year-old college professor who has both an international license and an (expired) American license but drove her Toyota Avalon in Saudi Arabia for the first time this summer, and to her thirty-year-old daughter Sara al-Haidar, who rode in the passenger's seat with a camera.
How do Saudi women normally get around without a license?
al-Haidar: You either have to beg a male relative -- your father, your brother, your husband -- to take you somewhere. If you don't want to go through that and you want to have a foreign driver [hiring a Saudi man to drive is cost prohibitive], you need to apply for a visa. And then a visa itself is very expensive...You don't know this person. There isn't a background check. Every other day you open the newspaper, you hear of a driver who has either raped, killed, or kidnapped someone. I have an eighteen-month-old son. I don't want my son to be in a situation where I have to worry about him.
al-Haidar: You either have to beg a male relative -- your father, your brother, your husband -- to take you somewhere. If you don't want to go through that and you want to have a foreign driver [hiring a Saudi man to drive is cost prohibitive], you need to apply for a visa. And then a visa itself is very expensive...You don't know this person. There isn't a background check. Every other day you open the newspaper, you hear of a driver who has either raped, killed, or kidnapped someone. I have an eighteen-month-old son. I don't want my son to be in a situation where I have to worry about him.
What was the reaction when you were in the car?
al-Yousef: Most people were noticing us and were flashing us the victory sign and thumbs-up -- they were very excited about it.
al-Haidar: People say that Saudis are not ready for Saudi females to drive...We passed by so many drivers who didn't even realize it was a woman who was driving. The idea of Saudis not being ready is absurd.
al-Yousef: Most people were noticing us and were flashing us the victory sign and thumbs-up -- they were very excited about it.
al-Haidar: People say that Saudis are not ready for Saudi females to drive...We passed by so many drivers who didn't even realize it was a woman who was driving. The idea of Saudis not being ready is absurd.
Did you get pulled over?
al-Yousef: One incident. And the policeman told us to just go home. He was very nice.
al-Yousef: One incident. And the policeman told us to just go home. He was very nice.
How does it feel not being allowed to drive?
al-Yousef: Frustrating. Very frustrating. And demeaning at the same time.
al-Yousef: Frustrating. Very frustrating. And demeaning at the same time.
What makes you think that this movement will succeed where the last protest, in 1990, failed?
al-Haidar: You have to keep in mind, in the '90s we didn't have the Internet. But now with Facebook and Twitter, the truth has to come out. Women who are in full Islamic garb videotaped themselves driving their cars. There's nothing in the Islamic religion that prevents women from driving. If you think about it, from the days of the prophet Muhammad -- peace be upon him -- women were on horseback. A car is a lot more modest than horseback. I think because of the Internet and the fact that it allows a lot of people to show what's going on, that's why there's been a lot of momentum with this movement.
al-Haidar: You have to keep in mind, in the '90s we didn't have the Internet. But now with Facebook and Twitter, the truth has to come out. Women who are in full Islamic garb videotaped themselves driving their cars. There's nothing in the Islamic religion that prevents women from driving. If you think about it, from the days of the prophet Muhammad -- peace be upon him -- women were on horseback. A car is a lot more modest than horseback. I think because of the Internet and the fact that it allows a lot of people to show what's going on, that's why there's been a lot of momentum with this movement.
[To al-Yousef] How do you like the Avalon?
al-Yousef: Excuse me?
al-Yousef: Excuse me?
How does it drive? This interview is for a car magazine...
al-Yousef: I love it. This is my second Avalon. I love Avalons.
al-Yousef: I love it. This is my second Avalon. I love Avalons.
[To al-Haidar] What would you like to drive when you can?
al-Haidar: Actually, I would really like to drive a pearl-colored Volkswagen Beetle. I don't know why, it's just something. It has to be pearl colored. It looks like a nice bubble.
al-Haidar: Actually, I would really like to drive a pearl-colored Volkswagen Beetle. I don't know why, it's just something. It has to be pearl colored. It looks like a nice bubble.
1888: Two years after Karl Benz was granted a patent for his three-wheeled Benz Patent Motorwagen, his wife, Bertha, drives it sixty-two miles from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany.
1905: Mary D. Allen opens a car dealership, selling Stevens-Duryeas in Brooklyn.
1909: Twenty-two-year-old Alice Ramsey drives across the United States, covering 3800 miles (152 of them paved).
1911: "The unfavorable influence of the automobile upon pregnancy has been somewhat exaggerated," concludes a report to the New York Obstetrical Society.
1914: World War I presses European women into service driving ambulances, trucks, and tractors.
1915: Movie star Anita King drives across the U.S. by herself. She also sets a record by driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 17 hours and 55 minutes.
1928: Elisabetta Junek, from Czechoslovakia, takes the lead in the second lap of the Targa Florio. She later says a rock thrown by a spectator caused her to lose the race.
1929: British aristocrat Dorothy Paget funds Tim Birkin's effort to race supercharged Bentleys. W. O. Bentley hates it.
1931: Former exotic dancer and Frenchwoman Helle Nice races in five grands prix driving a Bugatti Type 35C.
1936: Chrysler hires a female engineer, Mary Virginia Sink.
1949: Louise Smith participates in a NASCAR race.
1955: The Dodge La Femme targets women drivers with pink and white paint. It's a flop.
1956: New York Herald Tribune reporter Denise McCluggage files a race report from Montgomery, New York. She barely mentions that she took first place in the women's event.
1957: General Motors hires nine women to the design staff, albeit at lower pay than their male counterparts.
1971: Women are given access to the pits at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
1976: Shirley Muldowney wins an NHRA Top Fuel race. She would go on to become a three-time Top Fuel champion.
1977: Janet Guthrie qualifies for the Indy 500 and finishes twenty-ninth.
1990: Nearly four dozen Saudi women drive in the capital city of Riyadh. They are banned from leaving the country for a year, and those with government jobs are fired.
2005: The number of licensed female drivers in the United States surpasses that of males (the gap is widening).
2008: Danica Patrick's victory at the Japan 300 makes her the first woman to win an IndyCar race.
2011: Thirty-two-year-old Manal al-Sharif posts a YouTube video of herself driving in late May. Saudi authorities detain her for ten days. On June 17, more than a dozen women again defy the ban.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Breaking down the social barriers - columnist from Al-Medina
Columnist Abdullah al-Moallami wrote the following column in the Saudi daily, Al-Medina, and it was reprinted in the English daily Arab News. It quotes a young Saudi woman's poetry. The link to the story is here.
Local press: Breaking down the social barriers
By ABDULLAH AL-MOALLAMI
AL-MADINAH
Published: Aug 20, 2011 23:24 Updated: Aug 20, 2011 23:24
I am the woman … listen to me.
Listen to the purr of my engine … it is starting.
I am a woman fighting for the right, and I let the flag of the truth flutter high.
I’m the woman … I know that you all love me, and at the same time worry about me.
But today I break all the barriers that stifle my voice. That voice will never be muffled from now on, for my silence is the mark of my prison.
I am the woman … Watch how fast I am on my course with scant regard for the power of the engine that I drive. Power is not the yardstick of this race.
I am the woman … the Saudi woman … the Muslim woman … how often our mothers rode on the back of camels, horses or mules. But now I follow their tracks driving a four-wheeler with flashing tires.
I am the woman … your sister … whom you have left weak and paralyzed to suffer harassments at the hands of a strange driver who knows more about me than you brothers do.
I am the woman … Don’t make me cheap, subordinate and submissive, and don’t think I am ignorant or naïve and do not know what is good for me … Treat me well to prove your claim that I am your sister.
I am the woman … I don’t compete with you … I don’t challenge you in anything. Each one of us has our separate roles, status and objectives.
I am the woman … Don’t be afraid of me, don’t be anxious about me, I am an intelligent human being like you with two hands, two legs and two eyes and then why should you worry if I drive?
I am the woman … capable of taking care of myself … no need for alarm. Where are my keys, please?
These are lines from a poem written by a young Saudi woman. It is high time to take a clear stand on the issue of women driving. If it is religiously unlawful then forget about it. But, if it is an issue to be evaluated on its merits and demerits, as is the case with many other issues that we come across in our daily life, let us put the matter before our rulers.
The members of the Shoura Council should rush to discuss the issue, draft regulations that protect the interests of society and pass it to the king.
It is also time that writers and columnists, both men and women, end their heated debates, stop exaggerating and using a tone of intimidation so that those who are striving for a solution have a peaceful and balanced environment to work in.
One word to the men, whom I call “the campaigners of Iqal (men’s headband).”
Manhood does not mean threatening your women with promises to strike them with your Iqals or mocking them when they demand their rights, including the right to drive.
On the other hand, manhood involves dealing firmly with the men who harm or harass women whether they are behind the wheel or in the backseat of a car.
Local press: Breaking down the social barriers
By ABDULLAH AL-MOALLAMI
AL-MADINAH
Published: Aug 20, 2011 23:24 Updated: Aug 20, 2011 23:24
I am the woman … listen to me.
Listen to the purr of my engine … it is starting.
I am a woman fighting for the right, and I let the flag of the truth flutter high.
I’m the woman … I know that you all love me, and at the same time worry about me.
But today I break all the barriers that stifle my voice. That voice will never be muffled from now on, for my silence is the mark of my prison.
I am the woman … Watch how fast I am on my course with scant regard for the power of the engine that I drive. Power is not the yardstick of this race.
I am the woman … the Saudi woman … the Muslim woman … how often our mothers rode on the back of camels, horses or mules. But now I follow their tracks driving a four-wheeler with flashing tires.
I am the woman … your sister … whom you have left weak and paralyzed to suffer harassments at the hands of a strange driver who knows more about me than you brothers do.
I am the woman … Don’t make me cheap, subordinate and submissive, and don’t think I am ignorant or naïve and do not know what is good for me … Treat me well to prove your claim that I am your sister.
I am the woman … I don’t compete with you … I don’t challenge you in anything. Each one of us has our separate roles, status and objectives.
I am the woman … Don’t be afraid of me, don’t be anxious about me, I am an intelligent human being like you with two hands, two legs and two eyes and then why should you worry if I drive?
I am the woman … capable of taking care of myself … no need for alarm. Where are my keys, please?
These are lines from a poem written by a young Saudi woman. It is high time to take a clear stand on the issue of women driving. If it is religiously unlawful then forget about it. But, if it is an issue to be evaluated on its merits and demerits, as is the case with many other issues that we come across in our daily life, let us put the matter before our rulers.
The members of the Shoura Council should rush to discuss the issue, draft regulations that protect the interests of society and pass it to the king.
It is also time that writers and columnists, both men and women, end their heated debates, stop exaggerating and using a tone of intimidation so that those who are striving for a solution have a peaceful and balanced environment to work in.
One word to the men, whom I call “the campaigners of Iqal (men’s headband).”
Manhood does not mean threatening your women with promises to strike them with your Iqals or mocking them when they demand their rights, including the right to drive.
On the other hand, manhood involves dealing firmly with the men who harm or harass women whether they are behind the wheel or in the backseat of a car.
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