About the Ban on Women Driving in Saudi Arabia
About 27 years ago, some women were found roaming around the Saudi Arabian capital city, Riyadh in vehicles. The driving by women was a case of open defiance and blatant violation of the rules set by the state and the religious community banning women from driving vehicles in Saudi Arabia. This act led to the vilification of all women as defiant and ignorant of the stipulated rules banning them from driving in the capital city. However, the government of Saudi Arabia has since allowed driving for women, a step which is seen as a huge victory for all the women in Saudi Arabia. Driving is just one sample of discriminations that women in Saudi Arabia and the vast Arabian countries have had to contend with as part of their daily challenges.
Islamic Law and Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia
The ban on driving for the women was driven by the Islamic law called ‘Wahhabism,’ which called for the clear separation of the women rights against Arabian men.[1] Women were not allowed to dress in a manner that would make them identified in the society, as such they were required to put on veils to cover their faces whenever walking around the society. It is in the same Islamic law that every woman is required to have a male guardian, popularly known in other areas as husbands.[2]
The Reasoning behind the Ban on Women Driving
The banning of driving by women in Saudi Arabia was to control any chance of a woman traveling without her husband who then should drive for her.
The Struggle to Lift the Ban on Women Driving
The lifting of the ban on women driving did not come easily. This lift comes after decades and years of struggles by the women that started by the easing of some laws in as far as the year 2011. There were huge online campaigns by the women, even with the sons coupled by the international pressures to have some of the laws that were very strict on the women lifted to allow for the enjoyment of equal rights for all. This milestone in the relaxation of such laws as the banning of driving attributes to the son of the reigning king, bin Salman.
The Role of Prince bin Salman in Promoting Women's Rights
Salman was given an ambassadorial role in the US in June 2017. His main idea was to have effective economic and social transformation of Saudi Arabia in line with the vision 20230. Key to his plan was to have more women employed and contributing the GDP of Saudi Arabia.[3]
Impact on Women's Participation in the Workforce
This would mean that these women will need to drive to work, seminars, and other public and economic forums. The government had to then yield to the pressure of lifting the ban on driving and promoting equal rights for all, women inclusive.
Milestones in Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia
The campaign on women rights started in the year 2011 when King Abdullah decided to appoint women into his inner royal advisory council. In a significant departure from the past where only men were allowed to work in the inner advisory council for the king, women got a chance to contribute to the governance of the country through offering reliable counsel and advice to the government of the day. With such appointments into state offices, it was becoming hard for these women to operate, since they were not allowed to drive themselves to work. In the year 2015, more women got elected to the Saudi Arabian local council for the very first time. The systematic increase in awareness and propagation of women rights was even evident in the increasing number of Saudi Arabian women who were going to the Universities for the first time.
Social Media Outcry and Progress in Women's Rights
Before the scrapping of the female driving, there was social media outcry on the need for the workplaces to provide transport for all the female workers. The systematic change in women's rights continues to take hold of the entire Saudi Arabian country in the year 2018 when women were allowed to watch football in stadiums for the first time.[4]
Improvements in Women's Lives
The ban on watching football led to the filling up of the Jeddah stadium by women for the first time. However, of notable change in the improvement of women's lives in Saudi Arabia is the doing away with the laws that banned them from driving in the country.
The Freedom and Rights for Women in Saudi Arabia
During the period in which the ban was effective, women suffered hugely in silence, until the invention of social media through which they were able to shout their problems. They were unable to do huge shopping, take their children to school, and drive themselves or their families to the hospitals in case of an emergency. Therefore, the lifting of the ban on driving came as a blessing in disguise to the many women who were caged in their suffering for decades and ages. It is time for the Saudi Arabian government and religious organizations provide more freedom and rights to women so that they can enjoy their fellows across the globe in enjoying some of these rights that have been elusive for ages.
Bibliography
Ben, Hubbard. “Saudi Arabia Agrees To Let Women Drive.” The New York Times, 2007. Accessed on 16th Feb 2018 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-women-drive.html
Melissa, Etihad and Nabih, Bulos. Allowing women to drive is expected to boost Saudi Arabia's economy. Los Angeles Times, 2017. Accessed on 16th Feb 2018 from http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-saudi-arabia-driving-2017-story.html
Newsround. Saudi Arabia: Why weren't women allowed to drive? BBC, 2018. Accessed on 16th Feb 2018 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/41412980
[1]
Hubbard, Ben. “Saudi Arabia Agrees To Let Women Drive.” The New York Times, 2007. Accessed on 16th Feb 2018 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-women-drive.html
[2] Ibid 1
[3] Newsround. Saudi Arabia: Why weren't women allowed to drive? BBC, 2018. Accessed on 16th Feb 2018 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/41412980
[4] Etihad, Melissa and Nabih, Bulos. Allowing women to drive is expected to boost Saudi Arabia's economy. Los Angeles Times, 2017. Accessed on 16th Feb 2018 from http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-saudi-arabia-driving-2017-story.html
