The order issued by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud overturned a longstanding policy which had become a powerful symbol of oppression.
The conservative kingdom is currently the only country where the act of women driving is forbidden.
Since the 1990s, women’s rights activists in the kingdom have been pushing for the right to drive, saying that it represents their larger struggle for equal rights under the law. A number of women have been arrested for defying the ban.
However, Saudi officials and clerics have Read also:Saudi Arabia raises ban on women driving provided numerous explanations for the ban in recent years.
Allowing women to drive would corrupt the wider Saudi society and lead to sin.
Driving a car may lead women to have interaction with non-mahram males, for example at traffic accidents.
it was inappropriate in Saudi culture for women to drive.
Male drivers would not know how to handle driving with women in the cars next to them.
it may lead women to go out of the house more often.
Women driving cars may lead to overcrowding the streets and many young men may be deprived of the opportunity to drive.
it would be the first step in an erosion of traditional values, such as gender segregation.
it would cause damage to a woman’s ovaries.
Manal al-Sharif, an activist and an organizer Read also: Police reveal killers of American rapper, Tupac Shakur….Read why of the Women2Drive campaign who has also been imprisoned for driving, said on Twitter that Saudi Arabia would “never be the same again”.
