Saudi Arabia warns it will use force if campaigners protest against female driving ban
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Saudi Arabia's government has warned it will use force if campaigners take to the streets protest against the country's ban on women driving.
Saudi women's rights activists posted online photographs and video clips of themselves defying the ban this month after some members of the Shoura Council, an influential body that advises the government, called for an end to the prohibition.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are barred from driving, but debate about the ban, once confined to the private sphere and social media, is spreading to public forums too.
The Saudi Interior Ministry said calls on social media for “banned gatherings and marches” to encourage women to drive were illegal.
“The Interior Ministry confirms to all that the concerned authorities will enforce the law against all the violators with firmness and force,” the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.
There is no specific law that prevents women from driving in the conservative kingdom but they cannot apply for driving licences and some have been arrested on charges relating to public order or political protest after getting behind the wheel.
The “October 26 Driving” campaign has asked Saudis to put its logo on their cars and called upon women with international driving licences to get behind the wheel that day, while urging other women to learn to drive.
Conservative supporters of the ban, including members of Saudi Arabia's powerful clerical establishment, have said allowing women to drive will encourage the sexes to mix freely in public and thus threaten public morality.
Yesterday, Saudi news website http://www.sabq.org said that 200 Muslim clerics and preachers had visited the royal court in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to make a case against women driving.
“We came to the guardian (King Abdullah) to clarify the seriousness of this period,” Sabq quoted Sheikh Nasser bin Salman al-Omar, secretary-general of the League of Muslim Scholars, as saying.
“If those behind the conspiracy of women driving approach the house from the back, the sheikhs wanted to come through the front doors,” he added.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments