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Saudi women are holding a day of action to challenge the kingdom's ban on female driving, amid signs of slowly growing readiness by the authorities to consider reform in the face of strong opposition by the clerical establishment."
Twitter, Facebook and other social media have been used to get women drivers on the roads on Saturday in a marathon push against this unique restriction."
Activists say they have 16,600 signatures on an
online petition calling for change. Efforts to publicise the issue by the "October 26 driving for women" group have been described as the best-organised social campaign ever seen in
Saudi Arabia, where Twitter has millions of users and is used to circulate information about the monarchy and official corruption."
Arguments aimed at keeping women off the roads can be shocking and nonsensical. "If a woman drives a car that could have negative physiological impacts as...physiological medical studies show that it automatically affects the ovaries and pushes the pelvis upwards," warned Sheikh Saleh bin Saad al-Lohaidan."
Nafjan argued
in a commentary for Amnesty International that the fundamental issue was challenging patriarchy. "If there was one word to describe what it is like to be a Saudi woman, it would be the word patronising. No matter how long you live, you remain a minor in the eyes of the government."
the guardian
