No, this isn’t a bad and sexist joke.
Saudi authorities arrested a female activist on Sunday who launched a campaign to challenge a ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom and posted a video on the Internet of her driving, activists said.
The YouTube video, posted on Thursday, has attracted more than 500,000 views and shows Manal Alsharif, who learned to drive in the United States, driving her car in Khobar in the oil-producing Eastern Province.
“Police arrested her at 3 a.m. this morning,” said Maha Taher, another female activist who launched her own campaign for women driving four months ago to spread awareness of the issue.
It seems that women want a bit more freedom in Saudi. Good for them and good for Alsharif for making the stand to get her point across.
While there is no written law that specifically bans women from driving, Saudi law requires citizens use a locally issued licence while in the country. Such licences are not issued to women, making it effectively illegal for them to drive.
Sexism by the back door. It isn’t illegal for a woman to drive but the authorities are denying them the ability to drive. That should be straightforward to fix. Right?