The Saudi economic newspaper El-Iqtisadiah ran a front-page news story suggesting that women's driving is just a luxury rather than a necessity and that protesters against the ban seek to undermine the kingdom's stability and create sedition.
That wasn't just propaganda. I conducted a survey of my former Saudi female students at Al-Lith College for Girls (at Um al-Qura University, Mecca). .... It wasn't exactly scientific, but their responses are worth considering. I offered them anonymity in their answers, but even so, some wanted to be recognized.
To my surprise, 134 (out of 170) respondents said female driving is not a necessity and that it opens the door for sexual harassment and encourages women to not wear the niqab under the pretext that they cannot see the road when driving. Some also fear that it gives husbands a chance to betray and agree with the assertion that it creates sedition in society.
[A COMMENT] How nice of a man to tell us that Saudi women prefer not to drive. That's absolutely fine. Nobody was ever suggesting they should all be forced to drive. It would be nice if they were given the choice though, don't you think? [Guardian Cif] Read more
