Saudi Woman Drives to mark Int. Women’s Day
March 10th, 2008Nice, Atleast it didnt go unnoticed here
“International women’s day passed unnoticed here in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Almost all the women I talked to didn’t even know that the 8th of March was a day to celebrate women’s accomplishments.”
She is one of the leaders of the movement to overturn the ban on woman driving [with Fawzia al-Oyouni, Ibtihal Mubarak, and Haifa U.] Infact the petition last September was a brain child of her’s with the other activist. In 1990 some 47 woman drove in the capital Riyad, defying the ban. They were quickly rounded up.. but the difference b/w now n then is alot.. esp w/ all the reforms put in motion by the new King Abdullah n the fact tht lots of ppl are open to women driving. Arab News surveyed 400 women on the issue, and said 282 of them said they would drive alone if allowed to, 44 said they would continue to use drivers, 30 said they would drive, but only when accompanied by a male guardian, and 12 opposed the idea of women driving altogether.
Saudi woman activist marked this year’s International Women’s Day by defying a ban on women driving in the ultra-conservative kingdom and posted a video of her act on YouTube.
Wajiha Huwaidar, a leading activist in a campaign to allow women to get behind the wheel in the desert kingdom, confirmed to AFP on Sunday that it was her in the video posted on the popular website.
“Women can drive in the countryside. There is no problem with that. Some women do the school run everyday without being obstructed,” she claimed.
“What is important is to allow women to drive in urban areas.”
I know for a that women drive in the urban areas. I have seen it myself couple of times esp. on the Dhahran-Abquiq road…
Saudi woman flouts driving ban on YouTube
*** UPDATE**
this article has some details
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/11/saudi.women.drivers/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
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I unfortunately did not know that there was an International Women’s Day. I do live in America where women are supposed to be treated as men’s equals, but even so women are looked down upon and stereotypes are considered the truth. In too many parts of the world, women are practically treated as slaves. Yes, even though America is supposed to be so much better and it is in most cases, living here most of my life, I haven’t seen too much else first hand, women still only get paid 80% of what any man would in the same job, regardless of the skill level. Even getting into schools is for women. Yes, it is much better than many place of the world, but still, it is not equal, not the whole way.
But I must seem like I am taking things for granted, and to an extent, I probably do, but America does have good and bad points. Like that finally, there is the possibility that a woman might run the country, but some men are probably discriminating against because of her gender. Hopefully she gets in and maybe some things will change.
By the way, when people say that all women in the Middle East have no rights, is that pretty much true, or is that the American media talking?
It is important to remember that the Middle East is not a monolithic block, but comprises of several countries. While overall, women in the Middle East have a long path ahead of them before they gain an equal status, the situation differs from country to country.
We think that this is a good start to equality between men and women, as history shows all over the world it only takes one person to start a revolution. It’s hard for us, as Americans, to comprehend getting in trouble for standing up for what we believe in, because we have the rights to ensure us of the freedom to believe differently than our government, if we so choose. It is so weird to read this post and think that women are not “allowed” to drive in a certain area because of their gender. We can’t imagine living in a world that is so restriced. We think it’s awesome that women are starting to stand up for themselves. The only way to get something like this accomplished is to not let down your guard and don’t let anyone change your mind. You have to stay strog and keep fighting for what you believe in. We believe that this social issue can change and get better with time. If more than 1,100 Saudi men and women signed a petition towards this than ovbiously the situation has potential. Stay positive!
[...] Muneeb, from Mideast Youth, sheds light on Huwaider, saying: She is one of the leaders of the movement to overturn the ban on woman driving [with Fawzia al-Oyouni, Ibtihal Mubarak, and Haifa U.] Infact the petition last September was a brain child of her’s with the other activist. In 1990 some 47 woman drove in the capital Riyad, defying the ban. They were quickly rounded up.. but the difference b/w now n then is alot.. esp w/ all the reforms put in motion by the new King Abdullah n the fact tht lots of ppl are open to women driving. Arab News surveyed 400 women on the issue, and said 282 of them said they would drive alone if allowed to, 44 said they would continue to use drivers, 30 said they would drive, but only when accompanied by a male guardian, and 12 opposed the idea of women driving altogether. [...]
I felt so sorry for Saudi women who can’t have their freedom to do what they wanted. Driving isn’t a big deal for women for me, so why not allow them? I just can’t figured out if this law was covering the fears of men thinking that women can actually do what they can. I’m happy on where I lived.
I m all for women driving, I am from Bahrian & my wife drives here but I don’t agree with what these women r doing either. Breaking the law is not the right way to go abt it. Another obstacle I see, is that the women pushing are liberal.. don’t believe in hijabs, gender segregation. and this does not help the cause at all.