Rumored Saudi plan to let women drive a test of tradition

Rumored Saudi plan to let women drive a test of tradition

By Hosniya Hanem

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia may soon allow women to drive, which
could be the most significant advance for women since girls were
allowed to go to school in the 1960s.

Rumors that the shura council (parliament) is debating the
issue are so strong that some believe the government has leaked
the news to test whether the sexually segregated Saudi society is
ready for such a controversial step.

A senior diplomat in Riyadh said that specific conditions were
being discussed, such as allowing only married women over 35 to
drive, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., with the written authority of
their mahram -- male guardian.

"The process of building consensus for taking the decision
appears to be under way," the diplomat said.

How the state can end the ban while keeping the strong
religious hierarchy and opposing liberal forces happy remains to
be seen, but many women say they will take whatever comes their
way, just to be able to get behind the wheel.

"I have hoped for this for years," one said. "All the women I
know want it but it's not in our hands. This is the first time it
has been discussed so seriously. I hope they will allow us to
start driving, even with conditions, rather than rejecting the
idea without even trying."

"People here have grown up with the idea that women don't
drive. When they go abroad, children are shocked when they see
women driving. Men aren't used to the idea. The problem will be
getting society to accept it, particularly men."

Saudis say the state may have been prompted by the money that
could be saved by sacking 500,000 foreign chauffeurs at a time
when weak oil prices have lost the kingdom US$15 billion in
income.

Many Saudis say the ban has more to do with the country's
tradition than its Islamic faith, pointing to the fact that women
used to ride camels in the Prophet Mohammed's times. Women say it
would be better from a religious standpoint to drive their own
cars than have to be alone in a car with a strange man.

The ban is particularly frustrating to working women, who
complain that they are left at the mercy of their drivers.

"When I came here I felt I had become crippled," said an
expatriate woman.

"It would be great if they lift the ban so that I wouldn't
have to depend on my driver. Sometimes he doesn't come. It's very
frustrating. My husband can't take me because he takes our
daughter to school."

Saudi women's grumbles have grown as the number in work has
increased. An estimated 240,000 have jobs and the number will
increase as more facilities open to serve the fast-growing
population. There are some 600,000 foreign women working in Saudi
Arabia, which has a population of 14 million.

"I used to drive when I lived in Cairo and London," a Saudi
woman said. "But here I have a driver. It's hell when he goes on
holiday. There's no reliable public transport system and I could
stand on the corner of my street for a month before I see a
taxi."

Buses do not run regularly and have only a couple of rows of
seats for women at the back.

The driving ban on driving is just one manifestation of the
impact on women's lives of Saudi Arabia's strict Wahabi sect of
Islam.

Women must be covered and must be accompanied by a male
relative in public, education is sexually segregated, and women
are encouraged to seek work in fields traditionally reserved for
them, such as education and health care -- though some have
entered retailing, marketing, banking and even industry.

A handful of women who broke the driving ban during the Gulf
war were suspended from their jobs for three years. They also
incurred the wrath of the religious police.

"After the Gulf crisis there was an opening in the region to
the outside world," a woman said. "Satellite dishes became
popular. CNN and the BBC could be seen and people began to open
up. It's natural for any country to open to the world."

-- Guardian News Service