The kingdom of Saudi Arabia hasn’t exactly the best record of upholding women’s rights. The women of Saudi Arabia were only allowed to vote for the first time ever in 2011 (though to put this into perspective, the United States permitted this less than a hundred years ago). Until now Saudi Arabian women aren’t allowed to drive; though this will be permitted from 24th June. The right to drive was hard-won and Vogue Arabia decided to feature a cover with the Princess in the driving seat. There were outraged reactions to this, considering that the activists who made driving possible for women are still in jail!
Women are still not recognised as full independent citizens in the sense of being able to make their own decisions. In Saudi Arabia, women still need the permission of a male relative to travel and to make other fundamental decisions. Activists have been agitating against this system for many years now.
In Saudi, women need permission from their father, husband or son for most things from taking up a job, enrolling in an educational institution, or undergoing surgery. They effectively cannot file complaints of domestic abuse because they need the permission of a man who would frequently be the abuser himself to do so. There are very few public places women can go unaccompanied. Parks, public transport, gyms spas are segregated for the sexes; banks, offices and universities have separate entrances for men and women.
Several reasons were put forward to disallow women driving cars: it would involve uncovering the face and lead to women going out of the home more frequently. Women would interact with men they are not related to and deprive young men the opportunity to drive. Women driving are seen as going against traditional values and erosion of the rules of segregation that are so much a part of the society.
The country remains hugely conservative on the whole, and the decision to allow women to drive has been unpopular among many as being too liberal. “King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud has issued a decree authorising the issuance of drivers’ licences for women in the kingdom,” it was announced on state TV. From June 2018, women in Saudi would be able to drive.
The move to grant women driving licences was significant enough for the area’s popular fashion magazine to mention the issue on its cover. It was a ‘landmark shoot’ featuring HRH Hayfa bint Abdullah Al Saud at the wheel of a car.
On Twitter, many commentators were outraged at the choice of person in the driver's seat. Putting someone highly privileged like the Princess on the cover seemed incongruous to say the least.
The women who actually agitated to make driving a reality for their country-women are still in jail. Loujain Al-Hathloul was been detained on 15th May. She was arrested a few years ago as well, when she tried to drive from the UAE to Saudi. Aziza al-Yousef is 70, one of the earliest campaigners for the right to drive as well as the end of the guardianship system.
Tweeple quickly created this morphed image as well as others with the faces of the jailed activists superimposed on to the face of the Princess.
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