- Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi women set to defy driving ban
- Date: 23rd October 2013
- Summary: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (OCTOBER 22, 2013) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) AZIZAH AL-YOUSEF, LECTURER AT KING SAUD UNIVERSITY, LEAVING HOME AL-YOUSSEF GETTING INTO HER CAR VARIOUS OF AL-YOUSEF DRIVING CAR VIEW OF AL-YOUSSEF DRIVING CAR/ GETTING OUT OF VEHICLE IN DRIVEWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AZIZAH AL-YOUSEF, SAYING: ''The message from this campaign is a clarification to the decision makers and the readiness for the community (for women to drive cars) nothing more. There will be no gatherings or demonstrations, it is only to make women driving a matter of fact, and get the street used to this.'' VIEW OF RIYADH STREET WOMEN IN THE BACK OF A TAXI (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAUDI DRIVER, SAYING: ''The damage caused by a woman driving is much less than with an unknown man (driving her around) we don't know anything about his history or background.'' (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HAMMAD HISHAM, SAUDI MAN, SAYING: ''I'm honesty against women driving, I don't know how she'll cope if she has a flat tyre. How would she act? Here there's a lot of traffic and it would increase that. Riyadh is already crowded enough.'' CARS ON ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IBRAHIM AL-RASHID, SAUDI MAN, SAYING: ''I'm for women driving cars and I think that laws and legislation that will be enacted will protect the women, so there won't be any problems, God willing.'' WOMEN GETTING INTO CAR WOMEN GETTING OUT OF TAXI (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MANSOUR AL-SHAMARI, SAUDI MAN. SAYING: ''I encourage women to drive a car, a woman is a mother, sister, wife, beloved. She is a teacher, doctor, bank worker and now she is working in everything. She's now competing with men everywhere, they're now in the Shura council, so why not? There's no problem.'' CARS ON ROAD
- Embargoed: 7th November 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Saudi Arabia
- Country: Saudi Arabia
- Topics: Lifestyle,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVAA6O61NIZ2Q9GY3M3KHW76XJ84
- Story Text: Saudi Arabian women hope to defy a ban by the authorities on women driving in the kingdom, by getting behind the wheel on the weekend.
Azzizah al-Yousef is planning to do something that could get get her into trouble with the Saudi authorities. By getting behind the wheel in her car, she's defying a ban on women driving in the kingdom.
While no laws explicitly ban Saudi women from driving, citizens must use locally issued licences. These are not issued to women, making it, in effect, illegal for them to drive.
Al-Yousef has a driving license that was issued in the United States and another from a Gulf country. She's been driving in Riyadh since 2011, and was stopped once by police.
Despite the Saudi stance on women driving, Al-Yousef is among scores of women who want to overturn the ban.
A group of Saudi activists has begun another campaign against the ban, urging women to get behind the wheel on October 26 in defiance, according to its website.
The "October 26 Driving" campaign says it has gathered 8,700 signatures for a petition it published on September 21.
Al-Yousef says its her right and her decision to be able to drive and the state shouldn't get in the way of that.
''The message from this campaign is a clarification to the decision makers and the readiness for the community (for women to drive cars) nothing more. There will be no gatherings or demonstrations, it is only to make women driving a matter of fact, and get the street used to this,'' she said.
At least two similar campaigns in the past two years have failed to bring change, with the authorities detaining several women and making them sign pledges not to drive again.
Many women are driven around by drivers, who are usually strangers to them, something some men say isn't a good thing either.
''The damage caused by a woman driving is much less than with an unknown man (driving her around) we don't know anything about his history or background,'' said one Saudi driver.
King Abdullah has pushed some modest reforms to advance women's rights. In January, he appointed 30 women to the Shoura Council, which advises the government on new legislation. He said in late 2011 that women would be able to vote or run for office in the next municipal elections, Saudi Arabia's only public polls.
The "October 26 Driving" campaign urges people to put its logo on their cars on that day. It also urges women to learn to drive and asks family members to support women's right to drive.
But not everyone agrees.
''I'm honesty against women driving, I don't know how she'll cope if she has a flat tyre. How would she act? Here there's a lot of traffic and it would increase that. Riyadh is already crowded enough,'' said Hamad Hisham.
Others agree with the women, saying it's about time for change.
''I'm with women driving cars and I think that laws and legislation that will be enacted will protect women, so there won't be any problems, God willing,'' said Ibrahim Al-Rashid.
''I encourage women to drive a car, a woman is a mother, sister, wife, beloved. She is a teacher, doctor, bank worker and now she is working in everything. She's now competing with men everywhere, they're now in the Shura council, so why not? There's no problem,'' added Mansour Al-Shamari.
Saudi Arabia is a conservative monarchy backed by religious scholars. It upholds an austere form of Sunni Islam and gives wide powers to clerics who dominate the judicial system and run their own police squad to enforce religious morals.
In 2011, after pro-democracy protests swept the Arab world, dozens of Saudi women responded to a "Women 2 Drive" campaign, posting pictures and videos of themselves driving on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Some were briefly detained and two faced charges, including that of "challenging the monarch". One was freed after signing a pledge not to drive again. The other was sentenced to 10 lashes, although it was not clear if the sentence was carried out. A Saudi princess tweeted that it had been revoked.
Sheikh Abdulatif Al-Sheikh, the head of the morality police, recently told Reuters there was no text in the documents making up sharia law which bars women from driving.
But he said he did not set Saudi policy and denied a report in local media that he had recently instructed the morality police not to pursue or stop women drivers. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None