Saudi women hit the road as legal drivers for the first time on Sunday, with a mix of celebration as one gender barrier fell and calls by some activists to press for repeals of others.
Minutes after midnight in Saudi Arabia, a leader in the right-to-drive movement, Manal al-Sharif, launched the Twitter campaign #Miles4Freedom to seek an end to the kingdom’s guardianship system, which requires a woman to get approval from a male relative for decisions such as travel abroad.
The end of the male-only driving is seen as part of gradual cultural changes led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the next in line to the throne.
But allowing women to drive — like many changes in the ultraconservative kingdom — has been met with opposition from some conservatives and underscores the deeper internal tensions over the crown prince’s challenges to the old order.
Some women immediately got behind the wheel in their first legal road trips as drivers in the kingdom.
(Washington Post)
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