One month ago, Manal al-Sherif was arrested in Saudi Arabia after she
posted a YouTube video of herself driving around the city of Khobar. She was accused of "besmirching the Kingdom's reputation abroad and stirring up public opinion", but was released after 10 days having promised not to drive again or take part in the
Women2Drive initiative.
This civil 'disobedience movement' by women in Saudi Arabia has been organized through social network sites where women have been posting pictures and videos of themselves driving, openly defying an official ban on female drivers in Saudi Arabia. The
Women2Drive Facebook page posted an announcementthat the direct action would continue until a royal decree reversed the ban.
This is not the first time Saudi women have initiated a civil rights campaign. In November 1990, 47 women drove around Riyadh before being arrested. All of them were suspended from their jobs and faced widespread condemnation fromMuslim religious leaders.
The latest driving campaign is a result of an online movement that began more than two months ago, when women's rights activists called for Saudi women to start driving their own cars on June 17. The Saudi driving ban on women is not based on any written law, but religious rulings enforced by police have prevented women, Saudi and foreign, from driving. Saudi Arabia is the only country to enforce such a ban, and resident women rely on live-in drivers or male relatives for transportation.
Eman Al Nafjan, a well known female blogger says that there are many men who support this campaign:, saying that "It is a huge burden on the men to have to drive all their female relatives around or to have to provide them with drivers". On the other hand, there are a number of women who are against such a campaign. "I believe they are probably afraid of any change" she says. A rivalonlinecampaign was launched in Mayencouraging mobs of men to
drag any women found driving from their car and whip them using the rope from the Iqal (traditional Saudi headwear), and to do the same for any men discoveredcollaborating. Femaleactivists responded byencouragingwomen drivers to carry bladed weapons.
Besides a ban on driving, women in Saudi Arabia must have written approval from a male guardian - a father, husband, brother or son, to leave the country, work or even undergo certain medical operations.
The campaign's activists say that June 17 will not be unique, andit is only the beginning of an overall campaign. They soon hope to see the new law allowing woman to drive in Saudi Arabia.
References:
Emirates 24/7
Mashable
