Kingdom’s ban on female drivers will end on Sunday, but some fear harassment on the road.
By Margherita Stancati and Donna Abdulaziz June 21, 2018
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—When this kingdom’s ban on women driving ends Sunday, many Saudi women say they still face a major obstacle to getting behind the wheel: the opposition of conservative men.
Some women who are otherwise excited by the idea of driving worry they will be harassed by men on the road or by relatives ashamed of their own family breaking a cultural taboo. Some men have openly vowed to menace women drivers, sparking the Saudi government to issue a new antiharassment law that came into effect earlier this month.
Alanoud Hakami, who is 22 and lives in Jeddah, said she has no plans to get a driver’s license out of fear of harassment, which her husband and father have both warned her about. They drive her to work as a handbag saleswoman and oppose her driving.
“I don’t want to drive because young Saudi men are not respectful. It’s not like abroad,” says Ms. Hakami.
The decision to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia is part of a broader program of social change spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and aimed at opening up the kingdom and diversifying its oil-dependent economy. Encouraging more women to join the workforce is an important part of the plan—and making it easier for them to get to work is a prime reason the government decided to lift the ban.
For decades, the kingdom’s roads have been reserved for men only, and clerics repeatedly branded driving as immoral for women, saying it allowed them freedom to behave sinfully.
That mind-set is beginning to change, but the social stigma attached to women driving will take some time to fade.
Many men have vented their opposition to the decision to lift the ban using a Twitter hashtag that translates to “you will never drive.” After the ban’s planned lifting was announced in September, a man was arrested for posting a video online in which he threatened to set fire to women and their cars if they dare to drive.
Many women have responded defiantly. “I will drive,” one said on Twitter, posting a picture of her Saudi driving school textbook.
Even some men who say they are in favor of women driving admit they don’t want their own female relatives to get behind the wheel.
A Jeddah-based businessman who goes by the name of Abu Mohammed said he would only allow his wife and daughters to drive in case of emergency. He predicted “total chaos” on Saudi roads after the ban is lifted and said he planned to travel abroad to avoid what he believes will be a traffic mess.
“There will be so many accidents,” he said, repeating a familiar theme among Saudi men that new women drivers will make mistakes. “They’ll end up pressing the gas instead of the brakes. Accidents are inevitable. They are going from the kitchen to the street for the first time.”
Many Saudi women have welcomed the freedom to drive. Tens of thousands of women have signed up for driving courses at the six driving schools for women that have so far opened, and many already obtained their Saudi driving licenses. They will soon be able to work as taxi drivers, with ride-hailing apps like Uber eager to recruit Saudi women.
But the fear of harassment is holding some of them back. A survey carried out in March by the Saudi National Center for Public Opinion Polls showed that 61% of women polled wanted to drive. Of those who didn’t want to drive, 41% said it was because they feared traffic accidents and 27% because they were scared of being harassed by men.
Those fears prompted the government to issue a new law coming into effect this month to stop harassment. Those found guilty—even of online harassment—face a fine of 100,000 Saudi riyals ($26,700) or up to two years in prison. Repeat offenders and perpetrators who are in a position of authority over the victims could face even higher penalties.
But many women worry that isn’t enough and want to wait to see whether the law will serve as an effective deterrent.
“Many girls, myself included, won’t feel completely safe until we see the actual effect of the law,” said Sarah Ibrahim, 23, a saleswoman in Jeddah. “It’s like cellphones: There is a law prohibiting the use of mobile phones while driving, but people do it all the time.”
She still wants to learn to drive. “We can’t continue to be the only country in the world where women can’t drive,” Ms. Ibrahim said.
Noura al-Mangour, a driving instructor at Riyadh’s Princess Noura University, said she has already experienced harassment firsthand. She was driving with a beginner on the university campus when she noticed the school car was being followed. The man driving it then overtook them and jammed on the brakes, she said. Ms. Mangour used the emergency brake to avoid a crash.
Like many of her students, she wasn’t sure she would ever dare drive outside the university’s sprawling campus for fear of being harassed—until the government passed the antiharassment law.
“I feel safe now,” says Ms. Mangour, who said she had a second unpleasant encounter with a male driver in the campus last week. “All I had to do was take out my phone, and they panicked and fled. There is definitely more awareness now about girls not staying silent victims to harassment.”
She plans to install a dashboard camera on the car she is planning to buy.
Many women have to summon the will to challenge both men who would harass them while driving and their husbands who oppose it.
Ghadir al-Mezeni, 29, said her husband opposed her driving because he considers it immoral and believes it would expose her to harassment.
“I want to rely on myself. I definitely want to drive. I don’t want to be at the mercy of men,” said Ms. Mezeni, who works as a saleswoman in a shoe store.
“Hopefully, he’ll change his mind,” she said of her husband. “Once he gets used to seeing women drive, maybe he’ll agree.”
Write to Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com
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In Saudi Arabia and the other Middle East theocracies women are required to wear a black tent. Islam is a disgusting cult.
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| A driving instructor in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, earlier this month. |
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