4:27
- ABC News
- June 24, 2018
Saudi women now getting behind the wheel
Today, Saudi women drove without risking jail time for the first time.
4:27
Many Saudi women drive abroad, including in neighboring conservative Arab countries like Bahrain or the UAE. As such, 21 centers were set up to exchange foreign-issued driver licenses for Saudi ones across the provinces of the Kingdom. And the first licenses were delivered at the beginning of the month.
The world’s most profitable oil company, Saudi Aramco, employing more than 60,000 people in the kingdom and running city-sized compounds set up a driving school to train thousands of its female employees and female descendants of its employees. One of those brought in to oversee the effort is California driving instructor Norma Adrianzen, who moved to the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran two months ago, along with a Canadian and a British colleague. She has found her Saudi driving students exactly the same as the students she teaches in California, except for one difference, they are very cognizant of the historic nature of their undertaking.
“I really felt it became real for them the day they applied for their licenses. They all went quiet in the room, it was surreal and very emotional” Adrianzen told ABC News.
The ages of the students at the school range from 18 to 50, some already drive abroad, others are first-time drivers.
She expects to be in the country over the next two years, with thousands of eager students to teach, and her Canadian colleague Deborah Sherwood would even like to train some of the men in Saudi, known for their love of speed. “They could definitely use some of our training” she told ABC News in jest. A woman training a man on how to drive in the conservative kingdom might still be a step too far even amid the liberalizing reforms underway
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing though. On June 19, a news item circulated on Saudi Twitter saying that in the eastern province of Saudi only 67 out of 13,000 female candidates passed the driving tests required, drawing the ire of some in the hyperactive Saudi Twittersphere.
???? ??? ?????
— ??? ??????? (@sharqiah03) June 19, 2018
?????? ????? ?? ????? ?????? ????????
13000????? ?? ???????? ??? ????? ???????? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ?????!!
????? ????? ??? ????? !!!@eMoroor@HashKSA https://t.co/IiOEF3AYkH
Nevertheless, those who have gotten their Saudi drivers license have described the moment as “surreal.”
Well-respected Saudi scholar Hatoon Ajwad Al- Fassi told local newspaper Arab News “It is as if I have been recognized as an equal citizen ... I felt strange going in the front door of the main traffic department, one of the taboo places for women in Saudi Arabia.”
Yet this change has come at a steep price for others.
The activists who had become the faces of the decades-long struggle to secure the right to drive were abruptly detained at the end of May. Though they had seemingly contributed to bringing about that change, the had quickly moved on to advocate for an end to the male guardianship law that compels women to seek the permission of their male relatives for traveling, conducting official business or undergoing certain medical procedures.
They had also recently started advocating for victims of domestic violence.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/saudi-women-drivers-06-rt-jef-180621_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
Their advocacy may not have played in their favor in a deeply patriarchal country, in a country still ruled by an all-powerful monarch, where political dissent is not tolerated.
Four women and five men are in custody after being referred to the Specialized Criminal Court to be, per Saudi paper Okaz, all for allegedly conspiring against the national security of Saudi Arabia on behalf of foreign entities.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/saudi-women-drivers-04-rt-jef-180621_hpEmbed_11x8_384.jpg\")
And in recent days Human Rights Watch reported the arrested of two additional female activists who had publicly decried the earlier arrests.
The arrests puzzled many who had been enthused by the social reforms put in place by the powerful young Crown Prince. He is seen as the impetus behind the lifting of the driving ban as well as the return of cinemas to the kingdom and a relaxing of gender segregation in the workplace.
Nevertheless, Twitter has been alight with comments using a hashtag that translates to #Women_Driving_Cars. Some, like prominent Saudi television journalist Muna Abusulayman tweeted lyrics from The Pointer Sisters 1980s hit “I’m so excited.\"
2 days to driving
— Muna AbuSulayman ??? (@abusulayman) June 22, 2018
\"I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I think I like it
I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it
And I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I want it\"#Saudi_arabia #saudiwomen #driving #?????_??????_???????
Others were more trepidatious.
I’m actually quite anxious about all the women driving in a few days. Not because women can’t drive or any nonsense like that, but because there are many new drivers who will all be out on the roads all of a sudden. #?????_??????_???????
— Jumana Mirza (@Jum_ym) June 21, 2018
Some, mainly men, poked fun, tweeting memes showing children and a husband fighting over the backseat.
#?????_??????_???????
— Ahmed (@PSDCoffe) June 21, 2018
Mood pic.twitter.com/ASzDcd7duL
Or tweeted sexist advice urging women not to “put makeup while driving.\"
#?????_??????_???????
— ???? (@Blackheat_k_) June 21, 2018
My advice to all women
-don’t put makeup while driving
-don’t take all your kids with you because they will distract you and confuse you
-keep your eyes on the road
-don’t use cellphone
-Don’t exceed the speed limit
-checking fuel level ?tire pressure
Though some men were supportive, even pointing out how dismal and dangerous Saudi male driving is.
“Seeing a lot of commentary ridiculing and fear-mongering about women driving, but I’d like to show you a video I shot this morning from my car, this is how men drive, women won’t be worse!” one Twitter user wrote.
????? ?? ???? ????? ????? ????? ??????? ?????? ?? ????? ??????!! ?? ?????? ???? ????? ?????? ?????? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ?? ?????? ?????? ????????? ???? ?? ???!! #?????_??????_??????? #?????_??????_??????? pic.twitter.com/4yQ8us0Gsg
— Amer Khubrani (@AAKhubrani) June 10, 2018
In addition to setting up driving schools, and driving simulators, a special parking section for ladies only has already been set up in one of the most popular shopping malls in the conservative capital Riyadh.
???? ????? ??????? ?? ?????? #?????? ????????? ?? ??????? ?? ??????? ? ????? ???? #?????_??????_???????
— ????? ?????? (@womensaudidrive) June 21, 2018
???????? ??? ???? ????????? ??? ???? pic.twitter.com/pHKuU7sF86
Some slots formerly reserved for disabled drivers have been superseded by a newer pink stamp in the shape of a woman.
While some were delighted to see the signs, Haya AlNaeemi, a Saudi woman, commented that these measures “give the idea that the Saudi woman needs special attention and isn’t equal to the man and will reinforce gender segregation in contrast to the mixing of the sexes while driving or at work.”
?????? ??? ??????? ????? ?????? ?? ?????? ???????? ????? ?????? ????
— ??? ??????? (@sharqiah03) June 22, 2018
????? ?????? ??? ??? ????..
??????? ????? ???????? ??? ??????? ??? ???? ????? ???????? ????? ??????? ?????? ????? !!#??????_??????_??? https://t.co/JPZFE8AgJR
The lifting of the ban has garnered worldwide attention, even making the cover of The Economist. This week’s issue declares “The Saudi revolution begins” over a black shape meant to depict the strict black full body veil imposed on women, with a race car instead of the eyes.
But the cover didn’t delight all Saudis. Alaa Balkhy, a Saudi artist living in New York with family in Saudi Arabia, contested this seemingly foreign-centric vision, saying on Instagram “Over This […] Whats your most famous work? Its about Saudi Women. Are you Saudi? No. Are you a Woman? No. Have you ever lived in Saudi?”
Yet, another US-based Saudi artist, singer-songwriter Tamtam released a song this month called “Drive,” to mark the lifting of the ban. Singing “we know what we want, we know it’s our time, let go of past perceptions, tomorrow is mine, we got drive, pushing through the limits, we ride,\" she encapsulates what this historic day represents for Saudi women as well as the road still ahead.
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