Wajeha al-Huwaider of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, co-founded a group urging that women be permitted to drive. The group sent King Abdullah a petition with more than 1,100 names. (By Faiza Saleh Ambah -- The Washington Post)
In Saudi Arabia, women are not permitted to drive. One of the reasons for not allowing women to drive is that it would lead to Western-style freedoms and an erosion of traditional values. *Rolling my eyes.*
"Allowing women to drive will only bring sin. The evils it would bring, mixing between the genders, temptations, and tarnishing the reputation of devout Muslim women, outweigh the benefits," wrote one man to the al Watan newspaper in response to an article about a group of women who are petitioning King Abdullah to let women have the right to drive.
Saudi women are forced to rely on hired drivers or male relatives to drive them to places. Taxis for an unaccompanied woman is not safe either. For some, hiring a driver who is usually a foreigner, is beyond their means.
We take our ability to drive our car wherever and whenever we want for granted. It is inconceivable to think that, at this modern day and age, there are women who do not have the right to drive. Women all over the world are marching with the progress of time but in Saudi Arabia, they are still stuck in the mindset of men ruling with 7th century laws.
Read the story about Saudi women petitioning their King their right to drive here.
It is so sad...this day and age. I do not know where in their religion that says Woman should not do this and that.
ReplyDeleteLook at the women in Malaysia. Out minister of Trade is a lady...she plays golf too. Does that mean she is sinful?
Kesian perempuan dekat sana.
Leaders in NZ and Germany...Women.
Do not see this kind of thing in Turkey.
Ya,so kasian esp when many of those Saudi women are educated women, have travelled overseas, yet treated like they don't mean much to society ... can't even go out alone without a male relative!
ReplyDeleteSuch a backward country!