Despite graduating from universities at a faster rate than men, Saudi women face an array of challenges in this conservative Arab country. Women’s life in Saudi Arabia is not easy, they have to face innumerable restrictions sometimes from their father, brother, husband and in-laws. The women who caught walking unaccompanied, or are in the company of a man who is neither their husband nor a close relative are at risk of arrest on suspicion of prostitution or other “moral” offences. But problems for them don’t stop here. From very lone time Saudi women are fighting to get the right to drive. Saudi Arab is only country in the world that prohibits female drivers.
Wajeha al-Huwaider, 45, an education analyst has formed a group few years before and collected more than 1,100 signatures online and at shopping malls for a petition that advocates for women’s right to drive. Right now this petition is under consideration of King Abdullah.
Why Saudi women are not allowed to drive?
The thoughts of the powerful clerics in Saudi Arabia think that allowing women to drive would lead to Western-style freedoms and an erosion of traditional values. In 1990 during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, some women who dared to drive on Saudi roads got jailed for one day and their passports were confiscated and they lost their jobs. Senior clerics say women at the wheel will unduly expose their eyes while driving and interact with male strangers, such as traffic police and mechanics.
Islam prohibits women to drive:
Every time when woman in Saudi Arab need to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor’s, will have to urge the male members of the family to drop them to their destination.
However, supporters of female drivers say the prohibition exists neither in law nor Islam. Driving is not a luxury, but it’s a necessity here. The women, who are supporting their entire families, can’t afford paying half their salary to a driver.
In the nut shell, at least with the efforts of few Saudi women, the right of women’s driving has recently become the subject of public debate. I hope the day will come soon when they will be going for a lone drive.
