Amid regional revolts, Saudi women are driven to rebellion

By Nehal El-Sherif May 24, 2011, 15:20 GMT

Cairo - While many Arab women have played a vital role in the pro-democracy uprisings across the region, in Saudi Arabia they are still fighting for the right to drive their cars.

'People are fighting for their freedom, while Saudi women are still struggling for their basic rights,' said a Saudi activist, who identified herself on the internet as the Saudi Lady.

Formally, there is no law that bans women from driving in the oil-rich kingdom. However, driving licenses are not issued to women - making it illegal for them to drive.

'There are no laws that ban women from either driving or voting,' Saudi activist and lawyer Walid Abulkhair said. 'They ban it using paternalistic tones, since if they allow women to vote and drive, it will lead to women's independence, which they do not accept.'

Women are banned from voting in municipal elections to be held in September, despite fierce campaigns by female activists demanding the right to participate as both voters and candidates, amid arguments over the conflict between law and tradition.

In the region's most conservative country, women also cannot travel without a male guardian, unless she is over 45. They also have little say in their marriage or divorce.

The government has moved quickly to prevent a planned symbolic protest drive on June 17. One of the main organisers, Manal al-Sherif was arrested, while most of the Women-to-drive campaign groups set up on social networking websites were taken down.

The New-York based Human Rights Watch has urged King Abdullah to order the release of al-Sherif, saying that arresting a woman 'who drove her family around in a car and then showed it online opens Saudi Arabia to condemnation - and, in fact, to mockery - around the world.'

'All it takes is a political decision just like the one made to arrest her,' said Abulkhair, whose wife once spent seven months in jail when she wanted to become independent from her drug addict father.

In Saudi Arabia, the father acts as the male guardian until the girl marries and the husband becomes her guardian.

Abulkhair, who has supported women's rights for a long time, believes regional developments have had an effect on the timing of the driving campaign, though it remains a minor effect.

'The situation escalated lately because we are humans at the end of the day, but ruled by an oppressive regime and we have had enough,' he told the German Press Agency dpa.

Senior government clerics have issued several fatwas, or religious rulings, saying women are prohibited from driving. A group of conservatives have launched their own counter-campaign vowing to beat men and women who support Saudi women driving.

Hardline cleric Abdul-Rahman al-Barak says the women behind the campaign want to westernise the country.

The driving ban could only be lifted by the government after consultation with the country's top scholars, most of whom say giving women more rights would open the door to 'evil' in the country.

Al-Sherif, a 32-year-old information technology specialist, was detained by religious police after she posted a video online of herself driving in the eastern city of Khobar. Her video has been viewed by more than 500,000.

She is still in the eastern Dammam prison, her lawyer says, but is 'morally in a good condition' and is not being mistreated.

Hundreds have signed a petition that urges the king to release al-Sherif and to make a clear stance about banning women from driving.

Several attempts were made to ease the ban in the past, with a number of senior members of the ruling family in favour of lifting the ban in principle. Several proposals to ease the ban were discussed.

According to HRW, these proposals included employing women as traffic police, so that women drivers would not have to interact with men, not allowing women under 30 to drive, and not allowing women to drive at night or outside of the cities. But none of these proposals were ever formulated into a draft law.

Al-Sherif is only one of many women who have been caught driving over the years. This week, two women, in their forties, were also detained after a man saw them and called the police.

As some still look forward to what women will do on June 17, few believe change will take place soon enough.

'These women don't represent the majority because many people are quiet,' Abulkhair said. 'They are afraid they will be arrested and abused.'