The driving ban on women in Saudi Arabia is not new. The Sharia Council forbid women from driving in the kingdom. This driving ban has been in place forever. Now, since the evolution of social media has already made things easy for a lot of other countries, change is underway in Saudi Arabia as well. The women drivers have started challenging something which was once considered a norm. The modern life where husband and wife are parts of a family unit need to contribute together. What good is having too many vehicles parked outside your house if you cannot drive them? Saudi Arabian women have tasked themselves to change the perception of the Sharia council as well as the public. The new video talks about the women’s frustrations of not being allowed to drive and how it is impacting their lives.
Manal Al Sharif and Driving Ban
Manal Al-Sharif was one of the Saudi women who challenged the taboo. She has also talked on Ted Talk about her experience about the driving ban on Saudi women. It all started for her with her son telling her how other boys beat him in the school. The reason for this beating was his mother driving a car when was not supposed to do so. In her TED Talk, she discussed in detail the kind of challenges that she had to go through before the Sharia Council could change its stance from calling women driving Saudi Arabia from Haram to not recommended. As with other things in life, change is slow and almost always meets with the resistance of some kind.
The Future of Driving Ban in Saudi Arabia
It not easy to live with something new or exotic. As human beings, we all are afraid of change. However, there are changes which eventually lead to something good. The Saudi women may get permission for driving on the road. But it will take a long time before their fight against the ban on driving of Saudi women gets accepted by the society. Always remember that these types of bans do not serve Cultures all over the world have changed a great deal. Social media and the internet has exploded information, making people think and challenge things earlier considered as norms. Therefore, the future for women driving in Saudi Arabia is bright. Despite the initial problems, once the society starts accepting this change, Saudi women will no longer have to be afraid of driving in the kingdom.
