Women can now drive in Saudi Arabia

It is expected to boost the fortunes of 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has ascended to the heights of power in the kingdom in three short years with an ambitious domestic reform programme and assertive foreign policy.

Saudi women rejoiced at their historic new freedom to drive on Wednesday, with some taking to the roads even though licences will not be issued for another nine months. “Men and women, my wife she drives, and my sister she drives”.

In a royal decree, the monarch directed minister of interior to constitute a high-level ministerial committee to carry out studies about the necessary arrangements to implement the royal decree.

Women in Saudi Arabia are gaining some of their rights as they will soon be able to drive a vehicle. Many working Saudi women spend much of their salaries on drivers or must be driven to work by male relatives. It won’t take effect until June 2018 after yet-to-be-determined rules are established.

The decree said women can drive “in accordance with the Islamic laws”.

The move, which has been welcomed by the United States, represents a significant opening for women in Saudi Arabia, where women’s rights have steadily and slowly gained ground over the years.

That, though, didn’t dampen the jubilation of Saudi women and rights activists who had long campaigned – with some even going to jail – to end this limit on women’s mobility and symbol of their oppression.

“Today is a rehabilitation to women from 1990 till the moment women can drive”. Still, lifting the driving ban on women could help the country’s global reputation.

Saudi Arabia has finally granted women in the country the right to drive.

Despite some steps forward for women in recent years, such as wider participation in the workforce, voting and standing in municipal elections, the gender-segregated nation has been widely criticised for its continued constraints. Saudi Arabia remains a male-dominated society.

Women are required to receive guardian approval to apply for a passport, travel outside the country, study overseas on a government scholarship, get married, or exit prison.

“Abolishing the male guardianship – period”.

Every woman in Saudi Arabia has a guardian, called “wali“.

Women’s reproductive rights also need to be promoted around the world, as only 39.5 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where there are no reason-based restrictions on abortion, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.