Saudi women celebrate news they will finally be allowed to drive

WOMEN in Saudi Arabia have been celebrating the news that they will finally be able to drive, a landmark step that brings the conservative kingdom in line with the rest of the world and will allow many more women to work.

According to CNN, the Saudi Foreign ministry announced Tuesday that a royal decree has been issued that will allow women to drive by next June.

“This is a historic big day in our kingdom,” Prince Khaled bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, said Tuesday in a briefing with reporters.

The move follows years of activism and appeals both from within and outside the Gulf nation.

Kholoud Attar, a 32-year-old Saudi designer and magazine owner who has been running her business for 10 years, told CNN the change would make a “huge difference” both to her and to her female employees.

“Being able to drive really facilitates a lot of logistics and helps with shaving off the time to get things done,” she said. “It’s so thrilling to be able to do this.”

For her female workers, the biggest gain will be in not having to pay for a driver or other transportation out of their salaries, Attar said. Employing a driver currently eats up a third of the average monthly salary for her staff members, who may also have to find the money for their children’s care or education, she said.

As for those who remain opposed to women driving, Attar said, their voices “just became much quieter” thanks to the government saying it would be allowed.

Nouf Alosaimi, a 29-year-old driving instructor based in Jeddah, told CNN that even with a driver, it was a hassle arranging trips and scheduling work appointments.

“Life will be faster,” she said, adding that she was looking forward most of all to the adventure that will come with driving her own car.

“I live in a country that I can’t explore,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to explore the kingdom’s coasts… I can’t take someone I don’t know to drive me to these places and my brothers are too busy to take me on long trips.”

Alosaimi, who recently returned to Saudi Arabia from abroad because of an increase in demand for diving among women, said the decision would increase tourism revenues, not just because of the expected increase in women tourists but also thanks to women-run tourism businesses.

Manal al-Sharif, one of the women behind the Women2Drive campaign in Saudi Arabia, celebrated the victory Tuesday by posting a photo on Twitter of herself behind the wheel of a car.