Saudi Women Protest Against Driving Ban

[Jazzy]

Women in Saudi Arabia have reportedly taken to the wheel to demand the right to drive - despite threats of immediate arrest.

Saudi authorities have warned they face arrest, possible legal action and could be stopped by force if they are caught behind the wheel.

But the threats have failed to put off many, including Bareah Albuzeedy, who says she will fight for her rights regardless of what authorities say.

Protesters were expected to drive their cars in cities across the country.

Ms Albuzeedy said: "What we're asking for is a very simple right. It's only to let women drive and that's it."

Saudi professor and campaigner Aziza Youssef said the group had received 13 videos and another 50 phone messages from women showing or claiming they had driven, adding that it had no way to verify the messages.

If the numbers are accurate, this year's campaign will be the most successful effort yet.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that imposes a state ban on women drivers.

Although there is nothing which legally states women cannot drive, only men are granted licenses and influential clerics have repeatedly called on the police to stop demonstrations from taking place.

Dr Mahida Al Ajroush, a prominent Saudi campaigner and psychotherapist, told Sky News she first drove in the country over 20 years ago and will do so again on Saturday.

She said: "The law says women can drive but the system does not give you a license ... when a woman cannot drive it means she can't go to work on her own, she can't pick up her children, she can't run her errands nor take her children to emergency."

Despite thousands signing a petition supporting the October 26 campaign and expressing solidarity on social media, the group's website has been hacked and an Interior Ministry spokesperson warned that even those campaigning online could be punished.

Last month a conservative cleric drew widespread criticism after suggesting women could damage their ovaries by driving.

Rest of article with video

Stupid law since it states women can drive but yet they cannot get a license. Makes no sense to me. Does it make any sense to you?

 

[Nebulous]

They need equal rights!
Or to get the hell out of there. How would the Saudi's like it if they had no women to belittle anymore?

 

[DrLeftover]

They need equal rights!
Or to get the hell out of there. How would the Saudi's like it if they had no women to belittle anymore?

To have "equal rights" implies that they have any to begin with. You evidently do not understand Sharia.


That would suit a good percentage of them just fine.

 

[JetWing34]

In almost all the countries in the world, every adult (especially women) have the right to drive and to possess a driver license.

 

[DrLeftover]

Yeah, they do. But not under the Saudi system.

And by committing an Un-Islamic act, they are risking execution.

 

[Nebulous]

Yeah, they do. But not under the Saudi system.

And by committing an Un-Islamic act, they are risking execution.

Executed for driving? Thats crazy/

 

[DrLeftover]

If the clerics declare that a woman driving violates the precepts of Islam, and the iman that was on TV and said this:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/29/world/meast/saudi-arabia-women-driving-cleric/

came close.

Then a woman that drove would be guilty of Apostasy, and that is a capital offense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Saudi_Arabia

 

[JetWing34]

You get executed in many countries for apostasy, but why in federal law would you kill an innocent person attempting to change religions?

Where in federal law does it state that women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive?
That's a joke, and a definition of the violation of the country's amendments.

It's sad to hear that women can't drive, otherwise face the death penalty via apostasy.

 

[DrLeftover]

Saudi Arabia is an Islamic State. That IS the religion. Period.

You can be beaten by the Mutwaheem (Religious Police) for carrying a Bible outside your hotel room where it can be seen openly.

Logical reasoning cannot be used to examine their expression of Sharia or their treatment of women.

I'll let a Canadian travel advisory say it:

Women should observe the strict Saudi dress code and wear conservative and loose-fitting clothes, including a full-length cloak (abbaya) and a head scarf. Men should not wear shorts in public or go without a shirt. Seek guidance concerning acceptable clothing upon arrival.

Women are not permitted to drive cars or to ride bicycles. Women and men are not allowed to mingle in public unless accompanied by other family members. A woman can be charged with prostitution if she is found associating with a man who is not a relative.

http://travel.gc.ca/destinations/saudi-arabia

 

[DrLeftover]

And here we go....

3 Nov, 2013

KUWAIT (Reuters) - A Kuwaiti woman was arrested in Saudi Arabia for trying to drive her father to hospital, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Sunday, a week after Saudi women protested against a ban on female drivers.

Kuwaiti women are free to drive in their country and enjoy far more rights than those in Saudi Arabia, who are not allowed to travel abroad, open a bank account or work without permission from a male relative.

The English language Kuwait Times said the woman was driving in an area just over the border, with her father in the passenger seat, when she was stopped by police. Kuwaitis and Saudi locals regularly cross the border and communities living along the frontier are often a mix of people from both countries.

The woman, who said her diabetic father could not drive and needed to be taken to hospital for treatment, is being held in custody pending an investigation, the paper said, citing police.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/kuwaiti-woman-arrested-driving-saudi-arabia-report-135727438.html