June 17: Drive-In Defiance for Women in Saudi Arabia

by NowPublic Staff | June 17, 2011 at 09:43 am

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Women Drive on June 17: Defiance in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world to ban women from driving, is facing a protest more exciting than the Fast and the Furious sequels: women getting behind the wheel and driving for themselves.

The nationwide protest is not centered in any one place, and is therefore impossible for the government to stop. The movement got international attention when Manal al-Sherif was arrested; she has since been released from jail.

While the drive-in protest is apparently smaller than expected, it's unclear how one could accurately measure participation, either on June 17 or any other day.

Women across Saudi Arabia are taking the wheel, and sharing their experiences on Facebook and Twitter.

"We've just returned from the supermarket. My wife decided to start the day by driving to the store and back," said columnist Tawfiq Alsaif on his Twitter page on Friday.

"I took King Fahd Road [Riyadh artery] and then Olaya Street, along with my husband, I decided that the car for today is mine," local resident Maha al-Qahtani tweeted.

We at NowPublic fully support women driving and tweeting, but suggest that you not do both at the same time.

The ban on women driving is not encoded in Saudi law, but is enforced by "morality police" on behalf of the clerics that really run the country.