Female driver in Saudi Arabia
The ultraconservative factions of the country heavily criticized the move, calling it unthinkable to allow women behind the wheel.

In a surprise decision earlier this week, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia announced that he will lift the country's infamous ban on female drivers. Beginning in 2018, women in Saudi Arabia will finally be able to apply for driver's licenses and legally get behind the wheel.

The controversial driving ban the only of its kind in the world has faced criticism from a younger generation of Saudi Muslims who are resistant to the ultraconservative Wahhabi interpretation of Islam that controls nearly everything in the country.

The long-awaited change comes after years of protests dating back to the 1990s, during which countless women were charged steep fines, thrown in jail, or given the "official sentence" of 10 lashes all for the high crime of driving a car.

Women React

For Saudi women, the news was almost surreal. Under the oppressive Wahhabi system, women are allowed few freedoms and remain largely subservient to men. Given how deeply embedded these cultural attitudes are, the government's decision took many people off guard. Although activists were pleased with the decision, many insist it should have come far earlier.

"It's been 27 years of demanding and asking, but a whole lifetime of suffering," said Dalal Kaaki, a woman who participated in protests against the ban. "I can't really celebrate because every time I come to celebrate I remember all the years of suffocation. ... Of trying to arrange transportation to work and having to beg people at home to take me to run errands."

"Things have to change. People are demanding it," another woman pointed out. "Young people don't want to live the way we lived. They want to live better. They want to live how other people are living."

Saudi woman entering car Backlash

The ultraconservative factions of the country levied heavy criticism toward the move, calling it unthinkable to allow women behind the wheel. In fact, many Saudi men are determined to ignore the new law -- Twitter feeds were alight with a hashtag that translates to "The women of my house won't drive."

Some expressed serious concerns for road safety arguing that putting so many brand-new drivers on the roads will cause accidents to skyrocket. Others echoed the sentiment, but using different reasoning: that female drivers will be major distraction to men, who might pay more attention to women driving in the vicinity than the road in front of them.

Progress Yet to Be Made

Despite this recent victory, the fight for women's rights in Saudi Arabia is far from over. Aziza Youssef, a female professor at a Saudi university and a prominent critic of Wahhabism, had this to say: "This is a good step forward for women's rights, but it's the first step in 1,000 miles to go."

She makes a good point. While in public, women are still required to wear a full-length garment called an abaya in addition to the traditional head scarf. They must seek permission from a male family member before traveling abroad, getting married, or talking to the police (which makes domestic abuse cases nearly impossible to investigate). Saudi women are even prohibited from walking down the street without a male guardian.

The end of the driving ban brings hope that other oppressive policies will begin to fall. However, such changes will require challenging the deep-seated belief in Saudi culture that women are inferior to men. For now, that looks to be an uphill battle.

12 comments

  1. Wendy's Avatar Wendy

    Female drivers will be a distraction for men? Maybe they should just pay attention to driving. That seems like a good solution. If they're that distractible maybe they shouldn't be driving.

    1. Rev Ned's Avatar Rev Ned

      Yeah. Like people here don't drive with their cell phone stuck to their ear. ?

  1. Barry's Avatar Barry

    Good start.

  1. Tom B's Avatar Tom B

    Obviously a good decision...religion should never assert one gender, race, ethnic backround or religion as better than another, when religion itself is inherently biased...Tom

  1. Tom B's Avatar Tom B

    When are you going to stop censorship/"moderation"?...

  1. Rev. Hoagie's Avatar Rev. Hoagie

    "It’s been 27 years of demanding and asking, but a whole lifetime of suffering,” said Dalal Kaaki, a woman who participated in protests against the ban. “I can’t really celebrate because every time I come to celebrate I remember all the years of suffocation. … Of trying to arrange transportation to work and having to beg people at home to take me to run errands.”

    Really? So now not being able to drive is "suffering"? It's years of "suffocation"? Oh, the humanity! People in Africa starving and sick are suffering. Gays being tossed off buildings, little girls having their genitals mangled and being forced to marry old men and being beaten and stoned to death in your moslem countries are suffering. You, my whiney little brat were inconvenienced. Grow up.

    Now go liberate a nine year old from sexual slavery and do something constructive.

    1. Beth K's Avatar Beth K

      Rev.Hoagie, All of those things cause Saudi women to lead lesser lives than their male counterparts. Driving gives people freedom to do a lot of things denied to others or being dependent upon finding others to take you. Ask anyone disabled/blind such that they are unable to drive, through nothing they have done. Being systematically excluded from driving is indeed "suffocation".

      Yes, there are people sick, starving, suffering, FGM (another symptom of institutionalized misogyny in Muslim countries), forced marriage (more misogyny), etc, etc. You know though, we can fight several of these issues all at once. It's easier to celebrate a victory in one area when you're fighting a group of closely related human rights issues. If women drive, they are not so much under "the thumb" of the men, and other rights will be demanded from there.

    2. Nora Mijnssen's Avatar Nora Mijnssen
      1. As if you care enough to actually do anything other than maybe donate to corrupt companies to fix those issues

      2. Gays thrown off buildings? In Saudi Arabia you can get stoned even for just accidentally witnessing a gay event

  1. CRAIG's Avatar CRAIG

    I believe a lot of the violence from ISIS and other factions has a lot to do with this change in Middle East Culture. As everything becomes more global and more of the Western Culture filters in, it is affecting change with other cultures. You can argue it's our fault for having a much more relaxed system (I suppose), but it's an inevitability as people mix throughout the world.

    For me personally, I think this is a good thing, but then again I didn't grow up within that culture so it's hard to judge. If my belief system and traditions were being slowly eroded by other cultures and ideas, I think I might behave similarly to the conservative front.

    I think changes will slowly continue to happen and eventually women will have equal power and footing, but it's going to take time.. Yay for steps in what I see as the "right" direction, however.

    1. John Maher's Avatar John Maher

      TRY TOO MUCH RELIGION in GOVERNMENT POLITICS, CRAIG !

  1. adeoniye's Avatar adeoniye

    I think this is an answer to prayers. Thank God for people in government. The are exposed and beginning to hear about unpalatable policies enslaving their people. I think it is a welcome policy if implemented

  1. Bill Fox's Avatar Bill Fox

    What about the close male relative that's supposed to escort the woman away from home?

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