13/03/2008 / SAUDI ARABIA
Today is international women's day. (...) Yes I'm driving a car in a rural region and it is allowed for women to drive in these
areas. It's in the cities that it's prohibited and that's a shame because
that's where it's needed most.
I‘m against
the idea of women driving in Saudi
Arabia for two reasons. Firstly, for the
traffic jams it would cause. At the moment women are driven by chauffeurs, so
there are usually a few of them in the car. If they start to drive by themselves,
there will be more cars and therefore more traffic jams.
Let me drive by myself says Wajeha
Women are banned from driving on main roads in Saudi Arabia and face harsh penalties for getting behind the wheel. Activist Wajeha al-Huwaider is protesting against the prohibition by appealing to the authorities in a video clip - which she filmed from the driving seat of her car.
The video posted on YouTube by Wajeha al-Huwaider
Posted 7 March 08
Excerpts:
Today is international women's day. (...) Yes I'm driving a car in a rural region and it is allowed for women to drive in these
areas. It's in the cities that it's prohibited and that's a shame because
that's where it's needed most.
And the occasion today: I hope His Highness Prince Nayef Ibn Abdel Aziz will lift the prohibition and let us drive soon.
We, the women who've signed the petition that we're sending to him today, we all hold driving licenses and we're ready to help the Saudi state help women get their driving licenses.
According to the authorities, it's not a question of politics or religion, but a social issue. We know that many women are able to drive and many families let them.
In light of this, I think that if we get the opportunity it will be the fastest and best way to change attitudes and make people understand that we're ready to drive.
I hope that at the same celebration next year this prohibition will have been lifted."
"I‘m against the idea of women driving...for the traffic jams it would cause"
Abdullah, a young Saudi from Riyadh:
I‘m against
the idea of women driving in Saudi
Arabia for two reasons. Firstly, for the
traffic jams it would cause. At the moment women are driven by chauffeurs, so
there are usually a few of them in the car. If they start to drive by themselves,
there will be more cars and therefore more traffic jams.
The second reason is that some Saudis aren't used to coming so close to women. Our society is still a bit tribal. Some men spend their whole lives like that; they don't come into contact with women until the age of 40. So there's a lack of communication. If women start driving it will create a strange situation that could cause problems."
"They’ll get used to it. And they’ll build some kind of respect [for women]"
Author of the video Wajeha al-Huwaider is a Saudi women's rights activist:
Outside the city limits women drive all the time. They can't afford to stay at home and let the husband do the business. Like me, I drive in a compound, so I drive to work every day. When Saudi men come here or go abroad they see women driving and there's no problem. They'll get used to it. And they'll build some kind of respect [for women]. If they see us doing the same things they're doing; not just sat at home. Women here have no control over their lives. But I think it's going to get better.
[If women started driving] the government would need to lay down some restrictions to protect them [from hostile male drivers], have more police- some female police- introduce it gradually. It can't happen overnight. But they can do it! It would be like when women started to go to school, they were threatened to be killed at first, and now, there are more women at school than men.
There's a strong rumour going round that the king's approved the law to let us drive, but there's no proof."
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It has a lot to do with social norms
Soumis par Ahmed Al-Omran le lun, 17/03/2008 - 10:25.Why this ban on woman driving was set in place and continue to be is unclear to me, but I think it has a lot to do with social norms that used to limit the role of women to stay at home, raising children and taking care of house chores. The problem is that some strict interpretation of religion has implemented this view into Islam, when in fact it has nothing to do with it.
I believe large number of women want to have the choice to drive, and many men support that view, but it is certainly not universal as they are group of men and women in the country who oppose giving women the right to drive.
There is no specific punishment for women found driving. In most cases, the woman would be detained and asked to sign a paper promising that she won't repeat it in order to be released. I don't think that many women break the law (if there was actually a law stating that women are not allowed to drive because I doubt there is one) but in the same time we read in the local newspapers stories about women caught driving to the degree that we now have a shortcut to describe these cases: DWF (Driving While Female).
Women who cannot afford a drive must depend on her male relatives to take her places, or she can use a taxi but many women avoid that choice because they think taxis are not safe. Limiting the freedom to move clearly has a negative effect women's lives. Imagine if you are a single mom who needs to buy milk for her baby but can't because you are not allowed to drive. Imagine that you are a young woman who got a good job offer but she can't take it because she has to commute and can't afford the costs of a driver.
Now is part of it is to keep women from having independence? I don't think this was the intention in the beginning, but I expect that some people now are using the women's driving ban in order to do that. They are afraid that allowing women to drive would lead to more empowerment and liberation for women, and they don't seem to accept that.
It is true that many women have driving licenses that they acquired from abroad, but recently the ministry of interior have tried to prevent women from getting these licenses from neighboring countries. Some women in rural areas drive, but that is rare, and it exists simply because the government don't monitor these areas like they do in cities.
"I really want to see the ban lifted, but even if they allowed women here to drive I don't think I would do it in the first few months because I think it will be chaotic." This is what a friend of mine has been telling me. She is eager to have the choice, but it doesn't mean that she would exercise her right immediately. I can imagine that many women share this view, but I can also imagine that many women would be enthusiastic to try something they have always wanted to do.
Ahmed Al-Omran
"Saudis aren't used to coming so close to women"
Soumis par Ann (non vérifié) le ven, 14/03/2008 - 00:16.It is well known - at least from the European men who worked in that country - that the Saudi men are all too comfortable with the men - as each complained of constantly being bothered - or more harassed by Saudi men who were trying to pick them up - in the way a man would normally do with a woman.
Perhaps then it would be a refreshing change - if the Saudi men could be allowed more natural contact with Saudi women - this might be healthier for the society as a whole.
With these kinds of stories emerging from the Kingdom - one could shudder to think what the real position of the women is there - that they aren't allowed to drive might just be the tip of the iceberg.
The "Saudis"
As for the quoted title - the writer above - Abdullah from Saudi Arabia - says the "Saudis" aren't used to contact with 'women' - suggests that the women there aren't seen as Saudi - as much as the men. Interesting - as it is proof of a female population - which is sidelined physically, visibly but also mentally.
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