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Saudi Arabian women are mounting a challenge to the ban on female drivers in a rare sign of public opposition to the kingdom’s ultra-conservative social mores, Ian Black reports.
The Committee of Demanders of Women’s Right to Drive is to submit its petition to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to mark Saudi national day. The appeal has sparked debate in the media, but there is said to be little immediate chance of it succeeding.
The organisers are being careful to present it as a social, not a religious or political question. “And since it’s a social issue, we have the right to lobby for it,” argued Fawziyyah Al Oyouni, a founding member of the committee.
Activists circulating the petition by email and on websites are relying on government statements and the fact that no law explicitly states that women may not drive.
