Since 1979, women have not been allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. Although there is no official written law banning driving, women who are caught behind the wheel are arrested for “immoral behavior.”
Recently, Saudi feminist activist and rabble rouser Manal Al-Sharif uploaded a YouTube video of herself driving, encouraging other women to drive and upload similar videos. She has been arrested twice, and faces charges of “besmirching the kingdom’s reputation abroad” and “stirring up public opinion.”
Nevertheless, Al-Sharif’s actions blossomed into the “I Will Drive My Own Car Campaign,” an internet-based awareness initiative, designed to culminate in a mass protests of women driving throughout the country. Protestors are raising awareness through the hashtags #women2drive and #freemanal.
Currently, gender separation laws prohibit women from taking public transportation, thus making women rely on male relatives or chauffeurs to get around. Naturally, this divides women of means from poorer women who are even further enslaved in the confines of Islamic domesticity.
