Women2Drive

Since my internship this summer at Vital Voices, where I learned about an inspirational woman named Manal Al-Sharif, I have been following the women's rights to drive campaign in Saudi Arabia. In May of 2011 Al-Sharif was filmed by another activist while driving in Saudi Arabia, and uploaded the video to YouTube.

Women in the country are banned from driving by custom and must rely on a husband, male relative, or hired driver if they can afford it for transportation. Saudi Arabia remains the only country in the world that bans women from driving. This, and a myriad of other rules repress Saudi women, who remain unable to "conduct official government business, travel abroad, marry, pursue higher education or undergo certain medical procedures without permission from their male guardians--a husband, father, brother or even a young son."

Manal Al-Sharif

Following her demonstration, Al-Sharif was detained by the country's religious police for her actions for a number of days. After her release, she continued to advocate for women's rights and was named one the World's 100 Most Influential People in 2012 by TIME Magazine. As her group's Facebook page states, women's rights to drive campaigners want "to live as complete citizens, without the humiliation that we are subjected to every day because we are tied to a driver."

On October 26, 2013 the women to drive movement, also known by its twitter handle @Women2Drive, was planning on organizing another driving demonstration. The Saudi Arabian government took action by blocking their website, and Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, one of the 21 members of the Senior Council of Scholars, an advisory group to the King Abdullah, stated, "If a woman drives a car, not out of pure necessity, that could have negative physiological impacts as functional and physiological medical studies show that it automatically affects the ovaries and pushes the pelvis upwards." 

Despite the dangers they faced, activists have already posted 12 videos of themselves driving on YouTube, and supporters claim that between 25 and 60 women drove on Saturday. Authorities tightened security around the Saudi capital, and many of the women drivers who were reprimanded were "kept in their vehicles until their male guardians arrived, at which point the women were released after signing pledges not to drive again."

With regards to the movement, Al-Sharif stated, "I started something, and I'm going to finish it--whether they like it or not... I'm not going to stop until the first driver's license has been issued to a woman in Arabia."

Hopefully her goal will be achieved soon so that women in Saudi Arabia will be able to dream about much more than getting behind the wheel of a car. 

On a lighter note, check out this Saudi comedian's satirical video, "No Woman, No Drive."

© Elizabeth "Elise" Sidamon-Eristoff October 28, 2013