Saudi feminist activist, Lujain Al Hathloul, wreaked havoc earlier this year after challenging the ban on women driving in Saudi, by driving all the way from the UAE into Saudi Arabian boarders. Although, to no avail, she was detained for 73 days, and had her car confiscated.
The issue of women’s driving in Saudi Arabia is only the shallow beginning to the deep unjust and ever ignored issues that Saudi women face on a daily basis. The driving ban not only limits women from a basic human right, it also forces women to have to rely on men, be it their husband, brother, father or driver (having a driver in Saudi Arabia is a very common thing), not only do we feel unsafe having a total stranger drive us to work and school everyday, but it’s also financially draining; not to mention the fact that a driver can only be obtained through your male “guardian”.
Yes, that’s right. Women here are considered minors their entire lives, your father is your legal guardian until you are married, and then it is your husband who takes charge. Your ‘guardian’ has a say in every aspect of your life; he can divorce you from your husband for whatever reason he sees fit, he can forbid you from completing your education, he can force you to marry someone you don’t want to marry, and only up until recently did they eradicate the law that stated that women could only receive employment if their guardian agrees to her work contract. However, many might correlate these adversities with Islam, yet this has nothing to do with religion, and more with the mindset of the population and the curriculum our children receive.
So although Saudi Arabia may have allowed women to “vote” (for trivial elections, the country is a monarchy), there are still many underrepresented issues in this country that people need to be aware of.
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