Opinion

Saudi women behind the wheel

June 24, 2018
Saudi women behind the wheel

Lamya Baashen



Al-Madina newspaper

ON June 24, the countdown for women driving in Saudi Arabia will stop, heralding a new era in the country’s history. Saudi women have been eagerly waiting for this day after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman issued a Royal Decree to lift the ban on women driving in the country nine months ago. Women in Saudi Arabia will now sit behind the wheel for the first time.

The historic decision comes after calls to remove all obstacles that stood like a mountain in the way of women driving. King Salman deserves special applause for taking this landmark decision ignoring strong resistance put up by opponents.

Many non-Saudi women will drive their private cars to reach their work places and run errands. But for many Saudi women who campaigned for lifting the ban, driving will still remain a far cry as a result of customs and traditions. Saudi women have highlighted their sufferings as a result of the ban as it obstructed their movement across this vast country.

They know that society has been preventing them from driving for different reasons including fear, love and a lack of trust. Some clerics and families objected to women's right to drive to ensure their protection and prevent possible deviation. They understand that driving is not a prohibited or shameful act but it remained a taboo in our conservative society as a result of wrong beliefs and traditions.

Now driving has become essential more than any time before as a result of the Kingdom’s rapid development and the scattering of family members to different parts of the country. Moreover, thousands of Saudi women have started work. Men have become so busy that they don’t get time to drive their wives and daughters to their destinations and families were forced to recruit drivers spending thousands of riyals on visas, wages and other expenses.

The absence of an organized public transport was another important reason that necessitated women driving. So Sunday, June 24, will be an important day when Saudi women will hit the country’s roads, exercising their legitimate right and trusting upon God. Women need not worry about anything as strict laws have been enacted to protect them from harassment and traffic accidents.

Some opponents have sarcastically asked where women drivers will go. My answer is that they will drive to all the places where taxis and foreign drivers used to take them. Despite the ban on driving, Saudi women, especially the affluent among them, have enjoyed considerable mobility. They did not feel like captives in their own houses and made their presence at important events. They went to university and work.

The lift of driving ban will enable them to take their children to schools and hospitals as well as to strengthen social bonds by visiting families and friends. They will reach all the places they used to visit before more easily because they do not need to rely on a driver now.

Sunday, June 24, brings immense happiness to Saudi women not because of her passion for driving but because of lifting the ban, which has enabled her to exercise her natural right. Many Saudi women own and drive cars outside the Kingdom, so driving is not something new thing for them but many of them would still prefer to have a driver to take them to different places because their family situations would not allow them to drive.

Saudi women are very happy for having given the choice either to drive or not to drive. The royal decision allowing Saudi women to drive on the Kingdom’s roads reflects the fact that they are being considered full-fledged citizens. Saudi women have been carrying out their duties and responsibilities efficiently even in the past. The happiness is not just in gaining the freedom to drive but also in the increased self-confidence that comes with the right to sit behind the wheel. Saudi women now have the freedom to decide when and where to go without depending on others.

It was a long journey on a path with lots of hurdles and this has added to Saudi women's happiness on Sunday. They won this right after spending years of patience and perseverance. As they say, there is a time for everything. Women driving in the Kingdom will not have this beauty if they had obtained the right after shouting slogans and holding violent protests. The country's supreme authorities lifted the ban when the time was ripe and the decision coincided with ongoing reforms and the policy of openness.


June 24, 2018
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