Saudi woman's right to drive - Research Paper Example

Saudi Women’s Right to Drive Introduction In Saudi Arabia, women are seen as minors, legally. They must seek permission from men on matters concerning education, healthcare, and employment. Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive or be seen driving in public. Saudi Arabia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (C.E.D.W.A), but still women face discrimination. The government ratified the convention saying that in case of contradiction between the Islamic law and the convention, then the Islamic law would overrule the convention. It is crucial, while addressing these issues to understand the religious and cultural complexities that exist in Saudi Arabia (Abbass, p. 20). In Saudi Arabia, religious and cultural claims function as justifications for the oppression of women. As the Saudi Arabian women went out to protest the oppression, various philosophical theories could be observed; functionalism, conflict and symbolic interaction. In Saudi Arabia, women rights exist under religion and customs. In this region, the separation of women and honor is central to life. All women in Saudi Arabia have male guardians. This country prohibits women driving. Manal al-Sharif started a Women’s Right to Drive movement in 2011. She is a women’s right activist who filmed herself drive and posted the footage on popular media. Because of this, she was detained but later released and rearrested for deviance. She was released on the condition that she could not drive again or talk to the media on the issue (Lacroix, p. 11). In Saudi Arabia, women’s freedom of movement is limited. They need permission a man to leave the house. However, because of necessity, women leave their home without any male company or permission. Saudi Arabian women are also not allowed to drive, though a woman driving is tolerated in rural areas. Saudi Arabia has no official law banning women driving. However, Saudi Arabian drivers must have a license not issued to women making it illegal for any women to control a vehicle. Most religious leaders and scholar in Saudi Arabia expressly declared women driving a forbidden act (Polisis, p. 7). Driving involves face uncovering considered obligatory for all Saudi women. Women are barred from driving because it may encourage them to leave without the male authority. It is believed in Saudi Arabia that women driving could lead to the women interacting with a non-Muhram male; during accidents. A woman driving in Saudi Arabia is prohibited because the woman drivers may overcrowd the streets and lead to deprivation of the male off the opportunity to drive easily on the streets. Above all, woman, driving is considered as a step towards the erosion of the Saudi morals and their religion (Togelius, & Andersson, p. 70). Women are not only denied the right to drive but also they cannot use public transport. Essentially, the movement of women in Saudi Arabia is restricted. It is forbidden, for women, to use or hire a taxi or private drivers. Women do not have access to public transportation in Saudi Arabia. For instance, they cannot use public buses. In the buses, women sit at the back and use separate entrances. Established bus companies in Jeddah and Riyadh restrict women in their buses (Togelius, & Andersson, p. 71). Women in Saudi Arabia did not take the ban on driving lightly, and they instituted campaigns to convince the authorities to give them the driving licenses. In 2011, a women’s group that included Manal al-Sharif started a campaign on social media labeled “Teach Me How to Drive So I Can Protect Myself”. This campaign was commonly referred to as Women to Drive Campaign. The objective of this campaign was to let the government allow women drive. This campaign called on all women in Saudi Arabia to feel free to drive because it is not illegal constitutional, but a notion created by men. In May 2011, thousands of people on social media expressed their support for the campaign. Al-Sharif considered the action as an agitation for women’s right, but not a protest. Impressed by the campaign, Al-Huwaider decided to join and help the campaign achieve its objectives (Polisis, p. 9). Al-Sharif, in May, drove her car as Al-Huwaider filmed. They posted the film on social media; with Al-Sharif stating that the campaign targeted to help the girls in Saudi Arabia learn how to drive, for their sake, in case of an emergency. She faced detention but released thereafter. By the end of May, the video on social media had received 600,000 views. The social media clip showing Al-Sharif driving became inaccessible from its original location. Al-Sharif faced arrest and detention. The Director of Traffic referred questions regarding women driving to the members of the Saudi assembly (Lacroix, p. 10). Internationally, Al-Sharif received acknowledgement for her bravery in the campaign. After her arrest, another woman faced detention for driving a vehicle with two female passengers. She was later released upon signing a statement that required her not to drive again. The agitation gained momentum, when many other women drivers posted their videos on social media. Al-Sharif remained in detention until and was charged with incitement. King Abdullah is thought to have influenced her release following the letter that Al-Sharif had written to him and the petition that had 4,500 signatures (Polisis, p. 9). Symbolic Interaction Al-Sharif and other women’s actions reignited a debate on whether Saudi women should have driving rights. Many women, from inspiration by Al-Sharif, joined in the campaign and expressed their deviance from the issued directives. Symbolic interaction exists in the reasoning for denying women their driving rights. Cultural relativism has strong roots among the Saudi society. This relativism is supported by the notion that no universal standards exist for women in the Saudi society. Values, practices and principles, exist in bond with the culture. This existence distinguishes norms by which the society can be judged (Lacroix, p. 10). As a result of cultural relativism, it becomes difficult to judge a society based on another. This is the basis for arguing by the males in the Saudi society. The male population has a notion that letting women drive or own cars would lead to westernization of their culture, which they are against. Therefore, they aggressively resist any attempt to change their society or their way of thinking. Cultural relativists have the idea that human rights activists result from influences from western values. As a result, activists such as Al-Sharif receive death threats on herself and her family (Togelius, & Andersson, p. 75). Functionalism Functionalism clearly comes out in the women’s push for their driving rights. Functionalism in philosophy refers to a mental state that does not depend on internal constitution, but on its functionality. Women in Saudi Arabia became enlightened of their role in society. They observed that they had been subjected under men for a long time and were ready to chart their own course of action. They also noted that they had become minorities under the males and the males formed shadow rules restricting the advancement of women. The action of Al-Hariri and Al-Sharif were pivotal in enlightening the women that they could change their society with will (Polisis, p. 11). Other women came out and started driving their vehicles. Hariri reported to driving non-stop for 4 days in Jeddah. She did so in defense of her rights to mobility, and because she believed that Saudi women should be allowed to drive. These women had dispersed their fears of the government and its forces in arresting them. They came out to set examples for their daughters and friends, and they had pride in knowing that they can fight for their liberties. The Saudi society lied to women that by being chauffeured around, they received a queen’s treatment. The reality had dawned on them that the intention was to deprive them of their right to move freely (Togelius, & Andersson, p. 76). New emerging campaigns in Saudi Arabia started making statements of their determination for changing the society. Women realized that they had a pivotal role in moving their society forward. They noted that their silence had been misconstrued for weakness. Their voices that had failed them for long would be supplemented by their action, which had the, drive and the will to challenge the men and the government (Polisis, p. 11). Women began noticing that their silence led them to be under the mercies of the guardian men. Expatriates wondered at the restrictions in driving themselves, while when in a foreign land they drove themselves. They were eager to know why they were being subjected to humiliation, that every time they wanted to move around, they had to seek permission. The ideas of functionalism of women in the society had instilled them a sense of inquiry into exploring into unchartered territories. This then resulted in their knowledge that they had an enormous role to play in society (Togelius, & Andersson, p. 76). Conflict The theory of conflict also came out during this movement. When the women noted that the government would be unwilling to give them their wish, they took to disobedience and deviance. The womenfolk knew about the driving restrictions, but instead; they started driving and taking videos of themselves as they drive to encourage other women to join in the movement. The women did not resort to violence but instead chose civil disobedience (Togelius, & Andersson, p. 77). The arrest of Al-Sharif led to persuasion of other women that what they were doing was right. This resulted in women taking part in the movement for them to have their driving right. It should be noted that women had become feed-up with the guardian lie fed to them. They came out without fear of arrest to set examples for their daughters and sisters on how to agitate for their rights (Togelius, & Andersson, p. 77). In a statement by one of the women, she reckons that women have the duty and ability to change the world. They also reckon that their voices had failed for a long time, and time was ready for deployment of action. This conflict thrives on the fact that women occupy the larger half of the society. They also occupy unique places in humanity’s relationships with each other because they are the sisters, daughters, mothers and wives of men, yet they felt excluded from the men’s plans. They cried that men had made them invincible and deliberately excluded from the society by depriving them of their mobility and right to drive (Lacroix, p. 10). Conclusion Though not constitutional, Saudi Arabia restricts women from driving themselves. For an individual to drive in Saudi Arabia, they must possess a license not issued to women. As women came out to fight for their rights, they displayed various theories among them the theory of symbolic interaction, functionalism and conflict. The issues that women raised were genuine issued that must be addressed. Women must be given the right to drive themselves for their good. Imagine the events, in case a woman driven by her guardian and allover a sudden, he had a heart attack. The woman would watch as her guardian or close relative die because she cannot drive him to the hospital, which would be unfortunate. Works Cited Abbass, S. Saudi Arabian Women Campaign For the Right to Drive, 2007-2008. Global Nonviolent Action. (2010). Page 15-25. Lacroix, S. Post-Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Monarchies in Transition. (2009). Page 10-12. Polisis, C. Universal Rights And Cultural Relativism: Hinduism And Islam Deconstructed. Journal of International Affairs. (2005). Page 7-9. Togelius, L. & Andersson, E. Women Oppressed In The Name Of Culture and Religion. Saudi Arabia and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Global and Political Studies. (2010). Page 61-90. Read More