Women driving latest Saudi taboo to shatter

Manama: The former head of the Saudi Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said Saudi society would accept women being allowed to drive.

“The ban on women driving is not the only taboo to be shattered,” Abdul Lateef Al Shaikh said.

“Saudi society at one time ‘banned’ cars mainly for their ‘terrorising’ speed. It also ‘banned’ the use of forks and spoons, and sitting at a table for lunch or dinner,” he was quoted as saying by Saudi daily Okaz on Saturday.

Society also did not allow men to attend schools for formal education, and considered women’s education a taboo, he added.

“Society also took a stance against mobile phones equipped with cameras, and appearing on television. It took years to change mindsets. It is only after orders from former King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz that women were allowed to become members of the Shura Council and the municipal councils,” he said.