Women in Saudi Arabia have defied a ban on female driving, despite warnings of punishment by the country's authorities.
On Saturday, some Saudi women, including female activists, got behind the wheel in defiance of the driving ban in the kingdom.
“I went to the grocery shop near the house. I accept the risk,” said a Saudi woman driver living in the capital Riyadh on the same day, adding, “Personally I know three other women” who also drove.
This comes after an online campaign called on women who want Saudi Arabia to lift the ban on their driving to stage a demonstration by driving cars on October 26.

Activists say the authorities' failure to enforce the ban on Saturday shows that they are divided over it.

Reports say about 17,000 Saudis have signed a petition calling for women to be allowed to drive.

Moreover, several women said they had received threatening telephone calls from the Interior Ministry asking them not to drive on Saturday.

Ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki noted that “it is known that women in Saudi are banned from driving and laws will be applied against violators and those who demonstrate in support” of this cause.

On October 24, Amnesty International urged Saudi Arabia to respect the right of women to drive.
“It is astonishing that in the 21st century the Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny women the right to legally drive a car,” said Philip Luther, the Amnesty’s director for the Middle East and North Africa Program.
In 2011, dozens of women took part in a similar campaign, dubbed Women2Drive, challenging the ban.

In 1991, authorities stopped 47 women who got behind the wheel in a demonstration against the driving ban. After being arrested, many were further punished by being banned from travel and suspended from their workplaces.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are prohibited from driving. The medieval ban is not enforced by law but is a religious fatwa imposed by the country’s Wahhabi clerics. If women get behind the wheel in the kingdom, they may be arrested, sent to court and even flogged.

Supporters of the ban say allowing women to drive will threaten public morality and encourage them to mix freely in public.

By Press TV

 

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