Manama: A Saudi woman defied a social ban on driving by taking to the roads in the capital Riyadh and urging women to overcome fear and be self-confident.
“I am driving in total safety and security in Riyadh and it is around midnight on Friday,” the woman who referred to herself as Om Abdul Mohsen, said.
“If you drive well and you are not tense, no one will approach you. The obstacle of fear among women should be dismantled and we women are the only ones who can do it. Every woman should do it.
"Women should not wait for the support or assistance from their brothers or fathers. Every woman should rely on herself,” Om Abdul Mohsen said in the clip she posted on YouTube.
She said that women deserved a better status regarding the possibility to drive.
“We women today have an education and we work and contribute to the development of the country. We should not remain depended on drivers who often abuse our situation to ask for higher wages. Otherwise, there is no chance for us and no-one should expect the situation to change,” she said.
Women are banned from driving in Saudi Arabia although there is no legal text that states the ban. The women who are caught driving are briefly detained for taking to the streets without valid driving licences.
The debate over allowing women to drive has been heating up in Saudi Arabia between the two opposing and supporting camps that used religion interpretations, social norms and economic reasons to win support in the socially conservative society. The presence of thousands of male drivers to drive mainly Saudi women and girls has been regularly used by supporters of allowing women to drive to highlight negative social and economic problems.
The arguments have also been boosted by “grave concerns” felt by several women when riding with taxi drivers.
Last year, No Woman, No Drive, a Saudi tongue-in-cheek version of Bob Marley classic No Woman, No Cry garnered millions of views on YouTube.
The video has turned comedian Hesham Faqeeh into an international internet sensation for his take on Saudi Arabia’s ban on driving for women.
The nomination of 30 women to the Consultative Council last year has bolstered hope that the issue of women driving will be taken up and possibly approved.
The de facto ban on driving has been at times challenged by women, but they were accused of “stirring up public opinion.”
King Abdullah, who has stressed national reforms, particularly on women’s rights, since he became ruler in August 2005, has stressed that “balanced modernisation compatible with Islamic values was a significant necessity.”
