Saudi Women Drive in Defiance of Law

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that doesn't permit women to drive – by law.  Some in that kingdom undoubtedly are proud of that.  Others think it's an archaic restriction that has no place in modern society.  I know from my work as a journalist when creating the TBS documentary, Iran: Behind the Veil, that the driving ban is the just tip of the iceberg – one of many laws and customs designed to limit the freedoms and opportunities of Saudi women.  They still do not have the right to vote or hold high political office, for example.

In the past week, some brave women in that country organized a protest via social media and began taking ACTION, just as women and men have always done (and are doing throughout the Arab world now) in societies pushing towards equality and justice.  American women who first gathered to discuss the societal and legal bondage they faced in 1848 defied customs that said they had no right to assemble or speak in public, and they certainly would never have the right to vote or make laws or own property or get an education.  (France, at that time, passed laws limiting the number of unrelated French women who could assemble – to 2!)  Elizabeth Stanton's husband left town during the two day convention that she and friends organized at Seneca Falls, and her father, Judge Cady, came to town to "question her sanity." Newspapers called the leaders of the movement "mannish women, old maids, fanatics," and personally attacked them, and opponents burned Susan B. Anthony in effigy when she traveled across America to lobby for the vote for women.  Before the 72 year battle to win the vote for U.S. women was over, scores of women had been arrested for voting and for assembling in front of the White House, and many were beaten and force-fed during long stints in jail.

If history teaches us anything, it's that civil rights movements often start with acts that seem outrageous, but through the exceptional courage, perseverance and hard work of a small group of individuals, eventually these acts bring about rights and opportunities on a grand scale that seem perfectly natural as time goes on.

“We want women to keep fighting this fight and to be free," said Abu Alkhair, a Saudi man.  "It will help liberate the entire society."  Read the full account of the Saudi women's protest here.