SAUDI WOMEN HIT THE ROAD AS BAN ON FEMALE DRIVERS, LONG AN EMBLEM OF REPRESSION, ENDS IN MUSLIM KINGDOM
RIYADH— Women in Saudi Arabia took to the roads early on Sunday, ushering in the end of the world’s last ban on female drivers, long seen as an emblem of women’s repression.
“It’s a beautiful day,” said businesswoman Samah Qusaibi as she cruised the eastern city of Khobar just after midnight with police looking on.
Reforms pushed
The ban’s end, ordered last September by King Salman, is part of reforms pushed by his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a bid to transform the economy and open up its cloistered society.
The lifting of the prohibition, which for years drew international condemnation and comparisons to the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan, was welcomed by Western allies as proof of a new Saudi Arabia.
But it has been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including against some of the very activists who campaigned for women to be allowed to drive.
The number of new drivers remains low, as women with foreign permits only began converting them earlier this month. Others are training at new state-run schools, with 3 million women ex- pected to drive by 2020.
Some still face resistance from conservative relatives, and many accustomed to private drivers say they are reluctant to take on the country’s busy highways.
The decision to lift the ban in the kingdom—where onceforbidden cinemas and concerts have also returned—is expected to boost the economy, with industries from car sales to insurance set to reap returns.
Saudi stocks rose more than 1 percent on Sunday and insurance firms made solid gains, as demand from women is expected to boost the automotive sector.
‘Independence Day’
The change should also save families billions of dollars on chauffeurs while encouraging more women into the workforce and raising productivity, if only modestly at first.
Auto companies produced theatrical ads to mark the ban’s end, and private parking garages designated “ladies” ar- eas with pink signage.
“Independence Day” read the front page headline in the kingdom’s leading English-language newspaper, Arab News, but there were some voices of dissent and derision.
Much of the kingdom’s overwhelmingly young population supports Prince Mohammed’s reforms, but many Saudis fear their speed could provoke a backlash from religious conservatives.
Activists and diplomats have speculated that the arrests of more than a dozen women’s rights advocates over the past month were aimed at appeasing conservative elements.