As Saudi women's October 26 right to drive campaign accelerates, a novel argument has taken off in favour of the ban on female drivers. Conservative cleric Sheikh Saleh bin Saad al-Lohaidan claims that driving poses a risk to women's ovaries as it pushes up the pelvis, and could cause birth defects in unborn children.
This pronouncement is in keeping with that of Iranian cleric, Hojatoleslam Kazim Sadeghi, who claimed that earthquakes were caused by women's immodest dress, which led to promiscuity.
It is also congruous with a society where beheadings are punishment for sorcery and foreign housemaids charged with witchcraft were sentenced by a Saudi court to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes. [The Huffington Post] Read more
