Saudi King issues order allowing women to drive

Saudi King issues order allowing women to drive

Riyadh, Sep 27 (IANS) Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Tuesday issued a royal decree allowing women to drive in the kingdom.

The decision has overturned a longstanding policy that has become a global symbol of the repression of women in the ultraconservative kingdom, the New York Times reported.

However, the change will not be implemented immediately as the kingdom has no infrastructure for women to learn to drive or obtain drivers licenses.

“The police will need to be trained to interact with women in a way they rarely do in a society where men and women who are not related rarely interact,” the report noted.

Over the years, Saudi clerics have come up with several explainations for banning the women drivers, with one claiming that driving harmed women’s ovaries.

During a prolonged campaign by several rights groups who campaigned for the ban to be revoked, many women were arrested and jailed for taking the wheel.

The latest decree highlights how Saudi tries to reform its reputation that was damaged for not allowing the women to drive in public.

It is believed that beyond the effects it could have on Saudi Arabia’s image abroad, letting women drive could help the Saudi economy.

“Low oil prices have limited the government jobs that many Saudis have long relied on, and the kingdom is trying to push more citizens into gainful employment, including women.

“But some working Saudi women say that hiring private drivers to get them to and from work eats up much of their pay, diminishing the incentive to work,” the report stated.

Many Saudi women rely on ride-sharing apps like Uber and Careem to take relish some freedom of movement.

Saudi women celebrate end of driving ban

Riyadh, Sep 27 (IANS) Overjoyed Saudi women celebrated on Wednesday after King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued a historic decree allowing them to drive in the Kingdom.

The decree is slated to take effect from June 2018.

The announcement was reported late Tuesday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency and state TV. Praise for the move poured in from inside the Saudi kingdom as well as abroad.

Until now, only men were issues licences and women who drove in public risked being arrested and fined.

Manal al-Sharif, an organiser of the Women2Drive campaign who was earlier imprisoned for driving, said on Twitter that Saudi Arabia would “never be the same again”, reports the BBC.

The hashtags “I am my own guardian” and “Saudi Women Can Drive” quickly gained traction on social media.

US President Donald Trump said it was a positive step towards promoting women’s rights. US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert called the move “a great step in the right direction”.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres echoed that sentiment.

Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who was detained for 73 days in 2014 for flouting the ban, tweeted “thank God”.

Campaigner Sahar Nassif told the BBC from Jeddah that she was “very, very excited – jumping up and down and laughing”.

Saudi Arabia’s US ambassador, Prince Khaled bin Salman, said it was “an historic and big day” and “the right decision at the right time”.

The change will not be implemented immediately as the kingdom has no infrastructure for women to learn to drive or obtain drivers licenses.

Amnesty International also welcomed the Saudi decision.

“It is a testament to the bravery of women activists who have been campaigning for years that the government of Saudi Arabia has finally relented and decided to permit women to drive,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Research and Advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Not everyone reacted positively. Conservatives accused the government of “bending the verses of Sharia”.

“As far as I remember, Sharia scholars have said it was haram (forbidden) for women to drive. How come it has suddenly become halal (permissible)?” one critic tweeted.