#Women2Drive

In many western societies, people don’t think twice when asked their mother’s name and they don’t question a female driver. In the Middle East and North African region, women’s rights are limited and the need a male guardian with them to make decisions and take them places. For men in Egypt and other MENA countries, there is a taboo of not disclosing your mother’s name in public to prevent shame, so she is only referred as daughter of, sister of or wife of and then to be only allowed to leave the house with a male present, just like the taboo to not drive. Gender inequality is so prevalent in the MENA society and women have been fighting for years to gain basic rights (Trister). Unlike any other Arab country, Saudi Arabia adheres to wahhabism, “a strict brand of Sunni Islam, which requires the veiling of women, an absolute segregation of the sexes, and prohibiting women from driving” (Almahmoud) or this is the interpretation that is taken by the council.

Women first began demanding social reform in the 1990s which included fighting for the right to drive which led the religious police to enforce more strict rules against driving (Almahmoud).  In response, women activist arranged a driving protest in Riyadh streets and were arrested with their passports confiscated and government jobs were lost. Almost 20 years later, action was taken again to obtain the right to drive. Manal al-Sharif filmed herself driving a car and then uploaded it onto youtube causing an uprise in Saudi society in 2011. Moments like this and many more during the Arab Spring in 2011 allowed the campaign women2drive to begin and with the use of social media, it gained support from all around the world. While Manal al-Sharif was in jail, supporters gathered to release her and obtain the right to drive.

"For me, driving — or the right to drive — is not only about moving from A to B; it's a way to emancipate women, It gives them so much liberty. It makes them independent” (Gross). Manal al-Sharif describes driving to be a civil disobedience, but in reality, it was a de facto ban implemented on false studies. In Sharif’s Ted Talk, she states the reason behind this ban was research that was conducted by a local professor that concluding countries where women drive have more rape cases, drug abuse, and teen pregnancies (al-Sharif). The grand council was blinded by societal traditions and was failing to see that there was no real law against women driving. “The former Grand Mufti Abdel Aziz bin Baz had argued that lifting the ban would corrupt society with promiscuity and sin,” (Saudi).

After all these years King Salman finally issued a statement that allows women to drive which will be ratified June 24, 2018. The spread of the campaign on social media aided in gaining an abundance of supporters all over the nation and the world, which seems to be the reason the Saudi government gave into a new legislation seven years later.

“Freedom is dignity” was just one of Manal al-Sharif's famous words that rose

the power in women to fight for their rights and break the taboo in Saudi Arabia. The women2drive movement shows the power that action holds and how the voice of thousands can be heard and change can take place. They didn’t just argue for the rights of women though, they also stated that by lifting the ban would help the economy. The government needs more citizens to work in the public sector as the price of oil has decreased, but incentive is low due to the fact that women need a driver to get to work (Saudi).

With the success of women2drive movement, women are able to travel without a ‘guardian’ and get to work and for single mothers like Manal al-Sharif, they can raise their own family without wasting money on drivers or fearing to find a way back home. With the success of this social campaign, citizens are shown that change takes place with action and with the words of Manal - “freedom is dignity.” Respect should be given to everyone and that is why after this win, Manal al-Sharif began the next movement #IamMyOwnGuardian because there is always room for improvement to ensure human rights stay intact.

This major success has sparked a light in educated, ambitious women to help their youth and not suffer like the ones before them had to. This movement has empowered many women to speak up and demand the respect they deserve and fight to be their own guardian. Nothing comes easy, but when the voice of an entire nation is heard globally, change does take place.