Women and Driving Laws in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Assignment Example

Corse Women and Driving Laws in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as compared to its neighboring still lags behind in terms of the woman’s rights. According to the World Economic Forum report of 2013, the kingdom is ranked at number 127 out of 136 nations when it comes to gender parity issues. Saudi’s women of all age groups must are assigned male guardian and it is the only nation the world over that continues to proscribe women from driving. some improvements have been in the kingdom when it comes to the rights of the woman i.e. in 2015 they will be able cast their votes, run for elective positions and even get appointed to national bodies such as the Consultative Assembly. However, the ban on driving has continued to remain and significantly limit their mobility as well as participation in nation building. In this paper I will be discussing the reasons as to why women are forbidden from driving in the kingdom, its impacts and why the ban should abolished. The question of mobility for women in Saudi Arabia continues to elicit debate on governance, media, political and religious fronts, but I think the mass media must do more on highlighting the underlying issues. An interesting fact about the whole issue of women driving is that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to date has no single law permitting its women to drive or even acquire a legal driving license. a woman intending to travel outside or even within the country is required to produce permission that signed by the mahram. However in certain circumstances occasioned by necessity, women sometimes get out of their houses and typically interact even with men while shopping or doing business. fascinating enough, despite the having banned its women from driving, it has single written legislation for the same and most rural parts of the country tolerate female driving (Garcia and Troisonne, 2014). The Laws of Saudi Arabia require its citizens to have a license issued locally in order to drive within its borders. These licenses are not given to females and this effectively makes it illegal for any Saudi woman to drive. Furthermore, driving has been declared and is considered haram or forbidden on religious grounds and even among scholars. A number of reasons are given to support the banning of female from driving cars. Firstly according to the religious faith of the Saudi Kingdom a woman’s face is not supposed to be seen publicly and driving would require a woman to uncover the face in order to see the road as well as other motorists. Another reason in support of the ban of women from driving cars stems from the thinking that by being able to drive cars women would be tempted to out of their houses often against the requirement of women staying and taking care of the home. Traditionally women in Saudi Arabia are not supposed to interact with males who are not their mahrams or guardians. Permission of driving car for them would therefore technically mean permission to interact non related men for instance in cases of accidents and with male drivers on the road. it is also argued that permitting women to drive could lead to street overcrowding which may in turn deprive young men their opportunities of driving. Finally and more importantly, there is a very strong cultural belief among the clerics and most Saudis that their allowing women drive cars on the roads will mark the very first in the direction of eroding their traditional value systems e.g. segregation of the genders. Taking a closer look at the entire issue especially on the cultural and religious grounds for the ban therefore one may see some reason for validity of the position. However, the world has tremendously changed and sticking on some traditional values as is the case in Saudi Arabia may be counterproductive. This informs the growing demands among women and other critics of the ban to abolish it and allow women enjoy their rights to the fullest. Critics base their arguments against the ban on a number of reasons. First of all they argue there is nowhere in the Quran where it is said women should not be allowed to drive cars and therefore continued enforcement of the practice is in violation of the Holy Quran. From an economic perspective the ban on female driving in Saudi Arabia places a huge unnecessary financial burden on families. The ban forces many families into hiring live-drivers for their female members. it costs in the range of £200-£300 every month to have a driver and thus women who many not be in the position to afford such are pushed into relying on male relatives who take them to work, schools, shopping centers or even hospitals for medication. This makes the cost of life in such families to up by up to 30% yet it can be avoided by just a simple act of allowing every person to drive a car (Henderson, 2014). Critics also argue that banning women to drive on the ground that it may lead to the distortion of values like gender segregation fails to serve the purpose. Instead the ban violates the custom of gender segregation; it unnecessarily forces women into hiring taxis with drivers who are male and in essence encourages their interaction with strange males in the name of drivers who are not relatives or mahrams. In addition male drivers are commonly associated with perpetration of sexual harassment on women and country’s public transport system is highly unreliable and thus continued denial of driving licenses on women is a source of many evils and not a solution to any evil. The requirement for women not to derive cars also comes with ramifications on a number of social issues by limiting women. it for instance impedes their development in terms of education and employment by requiring them to commute to schools or places of work. This significantly limits the participation of women in education, employment, business and national building generally which contravenes the objectives of development economically, socially and in terms of human rights. It is because of such counter-developmental laws that Saudi females hold just a paltry 18.6% of the nation’s indigenous working class. Saudi women are widely discouraged from the use of public transportation. Even the hiring of taxis is technically prohibited for it allows them to mix with males who are not related but is not enforced. Access by women to buses and trains is significantly limited. When allowed accesses they are required to use enter through separate doors and take their sits at the back area that is reserved for them. Most bus companies covering the cities of Riyadh and Jeddah completely disallow women passengers and this makes it very difficult for women to travel to their work stations, learning institutions, shopping centers or even do business. The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is therefore left with no choice but embark on a policy solution for making affordable transportation available considering the that the nation lacks a good public transport system such buses and subways. King Abdullah has expressed a personal intention and desire to have women permitted to drive at a time when the society will be ready. With the mounting pressure from activity groups supporting the legalization of female driving and other nations equating the Saudi situation with the oppressive apartheid regime of South Africa the nation is now at the verge revisiting its ban on female driving. Shura Council recommends changes in the law that would allow women aged 30 years and above to drive but with some limitations. They for instance will be required to have left the road by 8.00 PM and not to wear make-ups during driving. This will mark a big victory for both the women and activists and ultimately will signal a good step in the direction of respect for the rights of women as humans just like their male counterparts. It would mark an end to the oppressive error where women were punished with one hundred and fifty lashes of the whip for being found guilty of driving. It would also usher in a new error of increased respect for the right of the woman as well as their participation in education, employment and business as well as improved quality of life. The new order will see women allowed to drive on Saudi roads for as long as they show evidence of permission from male relatives who can be the father, husband, brother or even son. Women would be free to drive cars between 7 AM and 8PM between Saturday – Wednesday and between noon and 8Pam on Thursdays and Fridays. They also have to put on traditional conservative clothing and avoid any form of make-up while driving. They will also be allowed to drive without being accompanied by their male relatives if within cities but when they drive out of cities then the accompaniment of male relatives is a necessity. The council also recommends the formation of a special “Female Traffic Department” that would be dedicated to handle matters affecting female drivers e.g. in events where their cars break down or encounter other problems such as accidents. The department will also be responsible for issuing of fines on female driving offenders and will be supervised by religious agencies. The Shura Council has also recommended very tough restrictions to bar the female drivers from interacting with traffic officers who are male and even male motorists. Breeching of the conditions would attract punishments as stiff as prison sentences and therefore every person driving on the road must abide by the set rules (Al-Shihri, 2014). The government’s efforts such as the consideration for creation of a national bus service system for women only is a commendable step in the right direction but falls short of addressing the core issue at hand. What the nation needs is a policy reformation to allow respect for the rights of women which would translate into many benefits such as increased participation in education, increased employment, economic growth and improved quality of life. It will significantly reduce of the cost of life for those families who are forced to hire taxis for their female members and also conclusively address the question of women’s interaction with male drivers which undermines sexual segregation. In conclusion therefore, driving for women is an issue that Saudi government must revisit and permit despite the reasons given for the ban. Allowing women to drive will mean the government respects their right to full life just their male counterparts and end the ongoing debate regarding the country’s treatment of women. The government has already done a lot to improve road safety and therefore the question of increasing the number of accidents on the roads by allowing women to drive should not be an issue. Having said that, it is important for the government of Saudi Arabia to focus more on the rights of women and the effects of banning them from driving cars rather than the effects of their driving. Being the only nation around the globe that prohibits women from driving cars should be reason enough for Saudi Arabia to revise its stance on the issue. It should also look at the social and economic benefits of the same which by far exceed the benefits of banning women from driving. Works Cited. 1. Abdullah Al-Shihri. “Saudi Arabia Considers Easing Ban on Women Driving.” The World Post, 2014. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/08/saudi-arabia-women-driving- ban_n_6125888.html 2. Barney Henderson. “Saudi Arabia Considers Lifting Ban on Women Drives.” The Telegraph, 2014. Available at:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/11218174/ Saudi-Arabia-considers-lifting-ban-on-women-drivers.html 3. Juan Garcia and Marie Troisonne. “Driving in Saudi Arabia.” The InterNations Org, 2014. Available at: http://www.internations.org/saudi-arabia- expats/guide/driving-in-saudi-arabia-16101 4. Robert Mackey. “A Saudi Activist, Her Own Words.” The New York Times, 2011. Available at: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/a-saudi-activist-in-her- own-words/ Read More