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Cars in the News: Saudi Arabia's Ban on Women Driving May End Sometime

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From LesleyB, Featured Contributor
Posted on August 21, 2008

File Under: Places I Would Not Choose to Live as a Woman

No women are allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, including residents and visitors. The ban isn't actually written into law, and it's not practiced in Islam, but rather is a fatwa issued in Saudi Arabia by conservative clerics and enforced by local police. However, social pressure may be gradually building in the country to change this. According to this article, one of Saudi Arabia's biggest newspapers, Al Riyadh, recently praised a woman who drove relatives critically injured in a fire for her bravery. King Abdullah has recently declared the issue to be a social issue rather than a religious one, which means social statements like the one made by Al Riyadh could impact the situation.

Driving is equal to mobility and those who would stop women from driving do so because they want greater control over them. From the same AP Article: "Conservatives say women at the wheelcreate situations for sinful temptation. They argue that women drivers will be free to leave home alone, will unduly expose their eyes while driving and will interact with male strangers, such as traffic police and mechanics.

We'll be keeping an eye on this one. Hand over the keys. The women of Saudi Arabia have places to go.

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LesleyB is a featured contributor for vLane.