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kalikshama -> RE: Saudi women defy driving ban despite fear of arrest A call on social media for Saudi women to defy (6/17/2011 6:12:42 PM)
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You beat me to it. However, I would have started the thread like this:
Saudi women, start your engines: Campaign against driving ban hits the road
...The campaign’s official start follows the 10-day detention last month of a 32-year-old woman, Manal al-Sherif, after she posted video of herself driving. She was released after reportedly signing a pledge that she would not drive again or speak publicly.
Her case, however, sparked an outcry from international rights groups and brought direct appeals to Saudi’s rulers to lift the driving ban on women — the only such countrywide rule in the world.
...Saudi Arabia has no written law barring women from driving — only fatwas, or religious edicts, by senior clerics following a strict brand of Islam known as Wahhabism.
They claim the driving ban protects against the spread of vice and temptation because women drivers would be free to leave home alone and interact with male strangers. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers or rely on male relatives to drive.
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