Riyadh: A group of Saudi activists are calling on women to get behind the wheel next week in defiance of a ban on female drivers, reviving a campaign that petered out last year, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
According to reports, Manal Alsharif, one of the campaign organisers who was detained last year after posting a video of her driving in the streets of the city of Khobar, told Reuters that:”If women don’t take action, the authorities will not lift the ban. It is up to women to decide.”
Under Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic laws, women require a male guardian’s permission to travel abroad, undergo some types of medical surgery and work in some jobs.
While there is no written legislation banning women from driving, Saudi law requires citizens to use locally issued licences while in the country. Such licences are not issued to women, making it effectively illegal for them to drive.
“The key to lifting the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia is to start with the women themselves … That is why we ask the authorities to protect those women who need to practice that right,” they said in an emailed statement sent to Reuters.
The campaign leaders had initially planned for women with valid international licences to drive on June 17 but had to postpone their plans to June 29 after conservative Crown Prince Nayef passed away on Saturday.
There is no indication of how many women will respond to this call and the Interior Ministry could not immediately comment.
“It is not likely that many women will take action on June 29. We are just stating a point that we are not giving up until the first (female) driver’s licence is issued,” Alsharif said.
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