Alwaght- Women are "treated as slaves" in Saudi Arabia, says a Saudi female activist who was jailed for driving in the despotic Arab kingdom.
“I come from a very private society where we live in closed windows, high walls and women are covered up. It's very difficult for girls and women in Saudi Arabia to do anything without the permission from a male guardian,” Manal al-Sharif told Daily Mail Australia.
In 2011, the 38-year-old women's rights activist uploaded a video on social media in which she could be seen driving. The clip was viewed over 700,000 times in a single day.
After that she started to receive death threats and was labeled mentally unstable. “I was called a w**** and people accused me of corrupting Muslims... They called me all kinds of names,” she added.
She was subsequently jailed for nine days, during which she lost custody of her son and was fired from her job, a computer security engineer.
After being imprisoned, she lost custody of her son, her job and home.
Ms Al-Sharif immigrated to Sydney as a permanent resident with her second husband and youngest son. She has written a memoir called Daring To Drive, describing her experiences. She was inspired to write the book when she found out that her eldest son, Aboudi, was being beaten up at school.Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women, both locals and foreigners are banned from driving.
The ban on women's driving has been a thorny issue for Saudi Arabia that was elected as elected to the UN women’s rights commission late on May 2017.. The ban is not officially endorsed in the Saudi legal system but activists say tradition and custom have barred women from driving. Some women have even challenged the ban by posting online selfie images behind the wheel.
Under increasing international pressure, Saudi Arabia’s former King Abdullah initiated a series of plans for engaging women in social and political activities. He appointed 30 female members to the Shura Council and allowed women to contest local council elections.
