Saudi Woman Defies Ban On Female Drivers … For Her Daughter’s Sake

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1vQ2WgCJU4?fs=1]Saudi housewife Najla al-Hariri drove non-stop throughout Jeddah for four days to “defend her belief that Saudi women should be allowed to drive.”

How did she get the courage to defy the ban on female drivers in the kingdom? Being a mom, of course:

“I don’t fear being arrested because I am setting an example that my daughter and her friends are proud of,” Hariri told AFP, adding she was offering driving lessons for women.

How awesome is that that she wanted to stop the ban for her daughters and her friends? I love that.

Hariri drove for five years each in Egypt and Lebanon. The Saudi Kingdom’s interpretation of Islam means that women not only can’t drive but can’t even travel period without permission from their male guardians. They can’t vote and they are supposed to cover from head to toe.

Some claim that this is all because Saudi women are given a higher stature than men. Here’s what Hariri says:

Hariri ridiculed the social belief that Saudi women are treated “like queens” as they are driven around by their male relatives or drivers, saying “this is a big lie.”

“We are always under their mercy to give us a lift,” she said.

Hariri may be a modern day Rosa Parks but she’s not alone. Saudi women are using social media to call for a nationwide protest on June 17 to get rid of the ludicrous driving ban.

Here’s Women2Drive’s Twitter page. And here’s the “I will drive starting June 17” page on Facebook. So far, 2218 people have signed up. We wish them well.