|
In May, Saudi Arabian vice police arrested and jailed a woman who posted a video of herself driving a car. Saudi Arabia is the only nation in the world that prohibits women from driving. (Actually, women are also banned from riding a bicycle.) The video by Manal al-Sherif, who learned to drive when she lived in the U.S., received more than 500,000 views in three days, before authorities took it down.
After her release on bail, Al-Sherif led a movement that encouraged Saudi women to drive on June 17 in protest of Saudi law. More than 100,000 people in more than 150 countries joined the campaign via social media. About 30 – 40 women in Saudi Arabia drove through the streets on June 17, however, some of them, drove clandestinely in the middle of the night, fearing beatings or jailing. Al-Sherif still faces the charges of “besmirching the kingdom’s reputation abroad and stirring up public opinion.”
|