Woman Sentenced with 10 Lashes for Driving

15-October-2011

Driving should be a basic right for women

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If you think the automotive industry over here has a long way to go when servicing female drivers, spare a thought for Saudi women.

In an eye-opening report by Amnesty International, a Saudi Arabian woman was found guilty of driving a car and, subsequently, sentenced to 10 lashes of a whip. Thankfully, human-rights activists and philanthropist duo Saudi Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel and billionaire husband Prince Al-Waleed bin Tal petitioned the King about it, and the punishment was overturned.

Just two days prior to the sentence, the conservative Muslim Kingdom granted women the right to vote and run in the 2015 council elections.

In June this year an online campaign called 'Women2Drive' created by IT worker Manal al Sharif used Facebook and Twitter to call on Saudi women who hold international driving licences to start driving, seeing as the ban limits their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Manal was jailed for 10 days for posting a video of her driving on YouTube. She maintains there's nothing in the law that says women can't drive; the main issue being that women aren't allowed driving licences in Saudi Arabia.

Only about 45 women reportedly dared to drive in June and of those who were caught by police, only one reportedly received a fine and the rest were let off. The police didn't seem to know what to do, according to reports on Twitter.