At last.. we’re on road to equality
SAUDI women have got behind the wheel after the country’s ban was finally lifted.
The move marks a historic moment for women who have had to rely on their male relatives or paid drivers to run basic errands, get to work, visit friends or drop children off at school.
The archaic rule, which was the world’s last remaining driving ban against women, brought to an end decades of campaigning.
In 1990, women who got behind the wheels of their cars in the capital, Riyadh, lost their jobs, faced severe stigmatisation and were barred from travel abroad for a year.
Sexist conservatives in the country had long claimed that allowing women to drive would lead to sin and expose them to harassment.
Ahead of allowing women to drive, the kingdom passed a law against sexual harassment, with offenders facing up to five years in prison in the most severe cases.
After the ban was lifted at midnight BY AYA BATRAWY yesterday, one of the first women to get into the driving seat, Hessah al-Ajaji, said: “I’m speechless. I’m so excited it’s actually happening.”
Hessah, who had a US driver’s licence before obtaining a Saudi one, drove her family’s Lexus down the capital Riyadh’s busy Tahlia Street.
She said male drivers “were really supportive and cheering and smiling”.
In a few hours, she says she will drive herself to work for the first time in Saudi Arabia.
Criticism against women driving has largely been muted since King Salman announced last year that they would be allowed to drive. The overwhelming majority of women in Saudi Arabia still do not have licences.
Many have not had a chance to take the gender-segregated driving courses that were first offered to women only three months ago.
There is also a waiting list of several months for the classes on offer in major cities.
Samira al-Ghamdi was one of a small group of women who had managed to secure a licence beforehand.
The 47-year-old psychologist, from Jeddah, drove to work and said: “It is our right and finally we took it. It is only a matter of time for the society to accept it, generally.”
Saudi interior designer Aseel Al-Hamad marked the new era for the country on the international stage, driving a Formula One car around the French Grand Prix circuit in front of thousands of fans.
She did the lap of Le Castellet’s Paul Ricard track, near Toulon, in a race-winning 2012 Lotus Renault E20 car.
Yesterday was not the first time Aseel had driven a Formula One car.
But her first attempt earlier this month was in private, whereas yesterday’s drive was seen by thousands of fans at the venue.
She said: “I believe today is not just celebrating the new era of women starting to drive, it’s also the birth of women in motorsport in Saudi Arabia.
“The most important thing I am looking forward to is to start seeing the next generation, young girls, trying it.
“I want to watch them training and taking the sport very seriously as a career. This is going to be really my biggest achievement.”