For the first time ever, women in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to drive
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the only country on earth not to allow women to drive, but that all ended on June 24, when the government began issuing driver’s licenses to its female citizens.
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Women can finally drive in Saudi Arabia
For years, Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world to prohibit women from driving. But that all changed on June 24, when the ultra-religious kingdom in the Middle East began issuing driver’s licenses to women for the first time.
The change comes as part of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s Vision 2030 modernizations, which are designed to change Saudi Arabia’s culture and economy from ultra-religious and oil-dependent to one that is more modernized and open to trading and inbound investment. One facet of this planned modernization is getting more women into the labor force: they want 30 percent of women to be working by the year 2030. And in order to work, Saudi women will need their own transportation. Before getting the right to drive, women had to rely on male relatives or ridesharing and transportation apps like Uber and Careem.
The Saudi government predicts that about 20 percent of Saudi women will get a license in the next couple of years, representing about three million new drivers on the roads. The government is putting on several expos and demonstrations for its new drivers.
In Riyadh, the capital, they set up an expo for women called, “Have Confidence, Get Out There!” It was designed to show women how to drive. The expo took place in a parking lot outside a shopping mall and featured a party-like atmosphere, with loud music and searchlights. The women attendees were able to learn about car maintenance, traffic laws, etiquette, and, well, how to actually drive. There was a special exhibit on seatbelts, another on safe braking. One popular option was the electronic simulator where women could practice driving in a simulation first. For the brave ladies in attendance, there were actual cars they could practice parking. One woman said it was the first time she ever sat in the driver’s seat of a car.
I can only imagine how that feels as an adult—to sit in the driver’s seat for the first time. I remember as a kid offering to wash my parents’ cars inside and out just so I could sit in the driver’s seat and pretend I was driving even though I was just polishing the interiors. I was doing that even before my feet could reach the pedals. I can’t imagine never sitting in a driver’s seat even as an adult.
Driving schools in Saudi Arabia are sold out as women are eager to get started behind the wheel. The government thinks about 20 percent of Saudi women will get a license by 2020. That’s about 3 million people. Some, though, will struggle with the cost. It costs six times more for a woman to enroll in driving school than it costs men for the same thing. It seems that full equality has yet to reach Saudi Arabia, but one step at a time, right?
Women were celebrating their new rights. Several women told CNN they waited in their garages for the stroke of midnight on June 24, waiting for the ban to be lifted, before heading out and taking a spin around their neighborhoods.
The driving ban was a unique symbol of women’s repression in Saudi Arabia, a country where women have long been denied many of the rights and freedoms that men enjoy. This represents a hard-fought victory for women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, but the news is not entirely positive. Some of the activists who campaigned for this policy were in fact arrested by the government leading up to the implementation of the new policy.
While some people are celebrating the new rights of women, others are not in the mood to celebrate. Some say that women should have been able to drive all along. They also point out that the country’s guardianship system continues to be repressive and unfair to women. Under this system, a male relative—either their husband, father, brother for instance—must give permission to women work, travel, or marry.
Other people—not just men, but some women too—are not in favor of allowing women to drive. Some have told the press that women need at least two years to learn how to drive; others think they shouldn’t be on the road at all. Yikes.
JR has a friend from Saudi Arabia named Fatin and she points out that women had many more freedoms and rights farther back in history, and that the current rights that women are winning are actually a return to the way things once were in her country. She says that driving cars is a basic right around the world and she thinks this is an important step for Saudi’s future development and a great victory for the women of that country.
One of the early episodes of Plain English was about the very first movie theaters that opened in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. For years, movie theaters weren’t allowed in the country. If you’d like to listen to that episode, go to PlainEnglish.com/09. Way back in Episode 9.
I want to say hi to Rebeca in Brazil today. She obviously speaks Portuguese, now English, and is going to start on French too—some people, once you start learning languages, you never want to stop. Rebeca, thank you for listening and good luck with your French, bonne chance!
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