Wednesday, June 6, 2018

"Saudi Arabia issues its first driver's licenses to women"


Timea Mozsi

For my final post I was going to write about the volcano that erupted in Guatemala. However, since it has been covered by several others, I am going to shed light on another shocking matter in the Middle East; Saudi Arabia’s ban on women drivers. This is said to be ending on June 24. Ten driver’s licenses to women had been issued, however, before that date. Two-thousand more are planned to be issued to women in the next week.

 Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud submitted a plan last year to reform Saudi Arabia by 2030. One of the important goals in this plan was to have more women in the workforce. The ban on women drivers was put into place because Saudi Arabia follows Islamic practices. More specifically, they follow Wahhabi Islam which has many restrictions on how people, especially women, are expected to behave.

According to the article, women often have to ask permission from their “male guardians”, whether that be fathers or husbands, to do many/most activities, especially if they are public ones. In May 2017 King Salman had a list released by the government of activities that women could do without seeking permission from “male guardians”.

My hope is that they continue on this path and realize that they can reform their way of life, making it fair for everyone—women, especially—without having to give up on Islamic beliefs.


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