Much praise must be given to some brave women in Saudi Arabia who are breaking age-old norms and archaic male suppression. In an attempt to defy a continuous driving ban that disallows women from getting behind the wheel in the conservative kingdom, these women have filmed themselves driving their cars in the city of Riyadh to challenge the ban and liberate themselves from the grip of the conservatives. This campaign for female mobility has been festering in the kingdom for a few years now and has seen some women fined and even imprisoned for daring to step out of line but on Saturday a few women again took to the streets and challenged the writ of the clerics who rule the kingdom hand-in-hand with the royal family. In anticipation of this event, the authorities from the interior ministry personally called up many female activists to dissuade them from taking part, check posts were put up by the police in the city, traffic patrols were increased and public announcements were made to tell women to remain indoors. In such a discouraging and hopeless environment the fact that these women made their presence felt by driving their cars and documenting their struggle speaks volumes for the dissatisfaction women have over the state of their rights in the kingdom.
It is flabbergasting that in the 21st century a country still exists, which prohibits a woman’s movement and transportation without the company of a male ‘guardian’. That women are bound in almost every way to the supervision of a man is most degrading and, after all this time, the modern Saudi woman is making her presence and anger felt. A ridiculous prelude to this event was the declaration by a Saudi cleric that driving a car was against the injunctions of Islam because it adversely affected a woman’s ovaries and decreased her fertility. No doubt a feeble attempt to discourage this driving campaign, this fatwa helped project Muslims as a laughing stock before the entire world and showed everyone that the clerics had no substantial reason to prohibit female mobility. While King Abdullah has pushed ever so slightly for reforms, expanding the scope of female education and employment, these attempts at progress are too few and far between. A basic right in any society is for an individual to have freedom of movement; for Saudi Arabia to ban this basic civil right for half its population is only testimony to the severe prejudice against women that the kingdom is known for. The king needs to loosen the stranglehold the orthodox clerics have on the country otherwise this driving campaign will be just the beginning of an open rebellion against the monarchy and the clergy. *