Saudi king decrees women be allowed to drive

[webfact]

Saudi king decrees women be allowed to drive

By Stephen Kalin and Yara Bayoumy

 

Saudi women wait for a car to arrive in Riyadh in this June 9, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Zainal Abd Halim/Files

 

RIYADH/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi King Salman on Tuesday ordered that women be allowed to drive cars, ending a conservative tradition seen by rights activists as an emblem of the Islamic kingdom's repression of women.

 

The kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, has been widely criticised for being the only country in the world that bans women from driving, despite gradual improvement on some women's issues in recent years and ambitious government targets to increase their public role, especially in the workforce.

 

Despite trying to cultivate a more modern image in recent years, the driving ban had been a longstanding stain on Saudi Arabia's international image.

 

The royal decree ordered the formation of a ministerial body to give advice within 30 days and then implement the order by June 24, 2018, according to state news agency SPA.

 

It stipulated that the move must "apply and adhere to the necessary Sharia standards", referring to Islamic law. It gave no details but said a majority of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars, Saudi Arabia's top clerical body, had approved its permissibility.

 

An hour after the official announcement in Saudi Arabia, a jubilant Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Khaled bin Salman, said it was "an historic and big day in our kingdom".

 

"I think our leadership understands that our society is ready. I think it's the right decision at the right time," the ambassador said.

 

Positive reactions quickly poured in from inside the kingdom and around the world, with the U.S. State Department welcoming the move as "a great step in the right direction".

 

For more than 25 years, women activists have campaigned to be allowed to drive, defiantly taking to the road, petitioning the king and posting videos of themselves behind the wheel on social media. The protests brought them arrest and harassment.

 

Activist Manal al-Sherif, who was arrested in 2011 after a driving protest, took to Twitter following the king's announcement to express her relief. "Today, the last country on earth to allow women to drive... we did it", she wrote.

 

Latifa al-Shaalan, a member of the Shura Council, an advisory body, said the decision would strengthen women's employment in the private sector.

 

"This is an historic day and I cannot find the words to express my feelings and the feelings of thousands of Saudi women," she said on Arabiya TV.

 

CONSERVATIVE PUSHBACK

 

In Saudi Arabia, a top Arab ally of the United States, women are legally subject to a male guardian, who must give approval to basic decisions they make in fields including education, employment, marriage, travel plans and even medical treatment.

 

Women in the kingdom are also bound by law to wear long robes and a headscarf and require the consent of a male guardian for most legal actions.

 

Prince Khaled, the ambassador, said women would not need permission from their guardians to get a license or have a guardian in the car and would be allowed to drive anywhere in the kingdom, including the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

 

Women with a license from any of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries would be allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, he added. He said the Interior Ministry would have to decide whether they could be professional drivers.

 

"In terms of international PR, this is the biggest overnight win that Saudi Arabia - and particularly MBS - could possibly have," said Jane Kinninmont, senior research fellow at Chatham House.

 

The position of Saudi women gradually improved under late King Abdullah and since King Salman took over in 2015, the kingdom has been opening more areas for women through the government's modernising reforms.

 

That has sparked tensions with influential clerics upon whose support the ruling family relies.

 

Some reactions to Tuesday's announcement reflected that. Critics took to Twitter to denounce the decision, accusing the government of "bending the verses of Sharia".

 

"As far as I remember, Sharia scholars have said it was haram (forbidden) for women to drive. How come it has suddenly become halal (permissible)?" another user wrote.

 

Asked whether he was worried about a conservative backlash, the ambassador said: "On these changes some people will be in the drivers' seat... some people will be in the back seat, but we're all going to move forward."

 

He added: "It's not women must drive, it's women can drive. So if any women do not want to drive in Saudi Arabia, that's her choice."

 

Some leading members of the country’s powerful and austere Sunni Muslim clergy have argued against women being allowed to drive, which they say could lead to them mingling with unrelated men, thereby breaching strict gender segregation rules.

 

The decision could also have broad economic impacts, making it possible for women to get to work without a driver but also curbing the popularity of car hailing apps like Uber and Careem.

 

Prince Khaled, a son of the king, said the decision was as much about economic reform as social change.

 

His older brother, 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed, has become the face of reform in the kingdom in the past few years.

 

Many younger Saudis regard his ascent as evidence that their generation is taking a central place in running a country whose patriarchal traditions have for decades made power the province of the old and blocked women’s progress.

 

"Oh my God, this is amazing. Ever since Mohammed bin Salman's rise, he has fast-tracked all the changes that are needed for our country," said Marwa Afandi, a 35-year-old event planner in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

 

"Congratulations to all my ladies, this is a real victory."

 

(Additional reporting by Celine Aswad, Reem Shamseddine, Katie Paul, Ali Abdelatty, Yara Bayoumy, Arshad Mohammed and Reuters TV; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt and Dan Grebler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-27

[Credo]

Well, there you go, Saudi Arabia speeding into the 17th century.   

[FreddieRoyle]

When people are driving around with what is effectively a blindfold over their head, it's time to either a) wear a crash helmet, or  buy a Hummer

 

Time to short-sell Saudi car insurers stock?

[Credo]

If you've ever seen the driving in Saudi, I don't think this will make it much worse.   

 

[pegman]

Good!

[BuaBS]

Saudi roads and parking lots , just got a lot more dangerous.

[jerojero]

About f.time. Pathetic how women are treated in this so-called leading country in the Middle East.

[kamahele]

Well, it is a start.

[nev]

That's nice if him, now will they have to wear a Burka too be hard to see?, and those long black repressive gowns they wear will get trapped in the pedals.

Has he really thought this out?.

[oxo1947]

More Muslims to be massacred.....

 

.

Saudi women are to get driving license’s..............

[bert bloggs]

if they had not had oil ,he would be saying they could ride camels .

[gk10002000]

 But boy, I hope the ladies understand the risk they are taking on if they get into an accident, real or imaginary.  I doubt they would prevail in any insurance case, if such a thing ever got filed

[ezzra]

Priority priority... one would expect that they would have abolish 

beheading and other body parts chopping BEFORE they decree

to allow women to drive.... but one is risking HIS head

being lobbed off just by suggesting THAT to them...

Edited September 27, 2017 by ezzra

[ilostmypassword]

1 hour ago, BuaBS said:

Saudi roads and parking lots , just got a lot more dangerous.

Spoken like a true Saudi imam.

[johnnyonesock]

the first step on the slippery slope  towards feminism

[Krataiboy]

Now stop stoning them to death for adultery.

[connda]

Welcome to the 19th Century!  

Edited September 27, 2017 by connda

[AsiaCheese]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Some leading members of the country’s powerful and austere Sunni Muslim clergy have argued against women being allowed to drive, which they say could lead to them mingling with unrelated men, thereby breaching strict gender segregation rules.

 

Sheesh. So they're going from minus 600 years behind the rest of the world to minus 550, and already the bearded extremists come out of the woodwork...

 

[Narratio]

I remember the first Gulf War. All the Kuwaiti's fleeing south through Dhahran, women driving luggage filled BMW's, Mercedes etc and the local cops having meltdowns as GCC driving licenses are valid throughout the GCC. The licenses are valid but women are not allowed but the licenses are valid but women..."BOOM!" Brain melt. And when it got to the US military... Oh boy.

[nasanews]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Some leading members of the country’s powerful and austere Sunni Muslim clergy

Those arrogant speakers on behalf of God are human knowledge advancement greatest enemy.

Edited September 27, 2017 by nasanews

[nasanews]

2 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Now stop stoning them to death for adultery.

Stoning was man made punishment even in Judaism it was practiced but God set the punishment of making sex in public (adultery) to 100 lashes as maximum limit but many Muslims unfortunately are too dumb to figure it out.

[baansgr]

Unless the male guardian agrees and accompanies them in the vehicle they wont be going anywhere, unlikely any women will be seen driving in the next 50 years or more.

[ExpatOilWorker]

50 minutes ago, nasanews said:

Stoning was man made punishment even in Judaism it was practiced but God set the punishment of making sex in public (adultery) to 100 lashes as maximum limit but many Muslims unfortunately are too dumb to figure it out.

Most people make love and have sex, except in American teenager movies, they just make out.

 

It is never a good strategy to have sex in public, after all in is not really a spectators sport. Anyway, back to driving. Go girls.

[BuaBS]

5 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

It is never a good strategy to have sex in public, after all in is not really a spectators sport.

That's what you say . I'm a 180 degrees from that POV.

[piersbeckett]

4 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Now stop stoning them to death for adultery.

and using religion to prop up a political system that subjugates females, indoctrinates children and keeps followers in constant fear of falling foul of draconian laws 

[Krataiboy]

7 hours ago, nasanews said:

Stoning was man made punishment even in Judaism it was practiced but God set the punishment of making sex in public (adultery) to 100 lashes as maximum limit but many Muslims unfortunately are too dumb to figure it out.

Thanks for that historical insight. Makes me glad I don't worship Allah OR God.

[coulson]

6 years post risky activism to get to this, some progress! Saudi has moved into the 17th Century

[Skeptic7]

On 9/27/2017 at 1:06 AM, Krataiboy said:

Now stop stoning them to death for adultery.

And apostasy!

[Skeptic7]

On 9/27/2017 at 3:46 AM, nasanews said:

Stoning was man made punishment even in Judaism it was practiced but God set the punishment of making sex in public (adultery) to 100 lashes as maximum limit but many Muslims unfortunately are too dumb to figure it out.

And even more unfortunate...many people are too ignorant to figure gods don't exist...

[mrfaroukh]

And still I guess they have to get permission to drive from their father, husband, brothers, uncle etc and they will never get it.