Saudi Arabia has long been the only country in the world that legally bars women from driving.<\/p>\n
But now, that\u2019s about to change.<\/p>\n
On September 26th<\/sup>, Saudi King Salman ended an internationally-criticized conservative tradition when he issued a decree allowing women to obtain drivers licenses in his country.<\/p>\n The birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest sites, Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, ruled by a king whose decrees must comply with Islamic Sharia law. The Quran\u2014Islam\u2019s sacred text\u2014is the country\u2019s constitution and the beating heart of its government, cultural norms, and social policies.<\/p>\n The interpretation of the Quran lies at the heart of the enormous gender divide in the country. Many laws which bar women from certain activities are meant to avoid free mixing between men and women in order to maintain modesty and minimize what is considered inappropriate or obscene contact.<\/p>\n Arguments from Islamic clerics and government officials against female driving privileges have, over the years, ranged from the idea that men would not know how to handle seeing women in cars next to them in traffic, to fears of rising promiscuity and the collapse of the Saudi family structure, to the idea that the female brain is \u201csmaller\u201d than that of a man.<\/p>\n For these reasons, women in Saudi Arabia do not enjoy many of the same legal and social freedoms as men. Many spend a large portion of their salaries on the country\u2019s large number of foreign chauffeurs, or are forced to ask male relatives to drive them to work. Otherwise, they\u2019re stranded.<\/p>\n But the rise of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, casually known as \u201cMBS,\u201d has brought a wave of change rippling through the country, thanks to his efforts to revitalize its economy through a program called Vision 2030. This program\u2019s goal is to bring Saudi society more in line with the rest of the modern world.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are trying to increase women\u2019s participation in the workforce,\u201d bin Salman told the press. \u201cIn order to change women\u2019s participation in the workforce, we need them to be able to drive to work.\u201d<\/p>\n This change has come with a host of others. In recent years, women in Saudi Arabia have been allowed to run for positions on the kingdom\u2019s municipal councils, and have, for the first time, been allowed to enter a sports stadium.<\/p>\n But the path to the independent travel hasn\u2019t been easy for the women of Saudi Arabia. Since 1990, women have protested the driving ban, driving around the Saudi capital, Riyadh or posting photos of themselves driving on social media. These activists have been met with lost jobs, travel restrictions, and jail time.<\/p>\n The lifting of the ban, which will be carried out by June 24th<\/sup>, 2018, has caused a wave of international support to pour in over social media channels, congratulating Saudi women on their newfound freedom and encouraging them to keep pushing for further reform.<\/p>\n The US state department called the move \u201ca great step in the right direction.\u201d The White House, too, signaled its support, releasing a statement saying that \u201cWe will continue to support Saudi Arabia in its to efforts to strengthen Saudi society and the economy through reforms like this and the implementation of Saudi Vision 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n The licensing of Saudi women isn\u2019t without its opponents, and tensions are rising amongst influential conservative clerics in the country. There has been pushback on social media, with one critic accusing the Saudi government of \u201cbending the verses of Sharia.\u201d Another wrote that \u201cAs far as I remember, Sharia scholars have said it was haram for women to drive. How come it has suddenly become halal?\u201d<\/p>\n Amongst fears of inappropriate male and female interaction, cultural pushback stands only to increase as the date of the actual legislation nears.<\/p>\n But with this change has also come louder calls for further positive reform. Saudi women still can\u2019t get a passport, open a bank account, get a loan, divorce, or marry without the approval of a male guardian. They also cannot socialize outside of their immediate families or receive equal inheritance. All of these customs and laws are now in the crosshairs of Saudi activists.<\/p>\n The ability to legally drive may just put Saudi Arabia\u2019s women on the road to equality as the country strives to change some of its most engrained customs. This may represent a baby step in terms of equality, but it is a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is amazing,\u201d one Saudi university professor\u2014a woman who participated in the first protest against the ban in 1990\u2014told the New York Times<\/em>. \u201cSince that day, Saudi women have been asking for the right to drive, and finally it arrived. We have been waiting for a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n That time has finally come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Saudi Arabia has long been the only country in the world that legally bars women from driving. But now, that\u2019s about to change. On September 26th, Saudi King Salman ended an internationally-criticized conservative tradition when he issued a decree allowing women to obtain drivers licenses in his country. The birthplace of Islam and home to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":605,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2208,2312,1241,2311],"class_list":["post-12701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-islam","tag-muslim-driving-ban","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-saudi-women-driving-ban"],"yoast_head":"\n