Driving

The obstacles facing women in all walks of life and educational fields in particular include transportation. Until recently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had been the sole country in the world which prevented women from driving because of religious opinions or fatwa had been issued to deprive women of the opportunity to drive.^[1394] In addition, the Minister of the Interior has supported this decision, giving as his reason for the decision that the Saudi society is not ready at the current time.

Traffic jams in the Kingdom are one of various severe problems^[1396] which must be taken into consideration, as must the poor driving levels generally in the Kingdom^[1397] (and the resulting atrocious accident rate). This is a matter of concern when considering whether to decide that women should drive. In addition, an appropriate traffic system (that is, proper licensing and road laws) does not yet exist in Saudi Arabia as it does in advanced countries. The Kingdom lacks provisions in its penal codes which would impose sanctions on those who violated of women’s rights in instances where women were disturbed or harassed while driving. This is something that could be addressed, though not all women actually want to drive, as has been shown in the interviews. Therefore a number of solutions need to be adopted that preserve a woman’s dignity while giving her increased access to the transportation necessary for greater access to education and employment.

Over the last few years, the Saudi government has slowly taken a number of decisions concerning woman’s education and employment in different fields and the extension of their activities in so many areas will create the need for greater access to transportation. Alternative solutions must be provided that facilitate the balance between women’s rights to move and the need to prevent her from driving. These solutions include the following:

1. Compensation should be provided in the form of an allowance for women if they are students or employees for the financial costs of transportation.

2. Each university or company or ministry should provide minibuses for the women who work for them.

3. General means of transportation should be provided, such as buses for women or setting particular sections aside for women in such buses or similar transport. Such transportation must be an improve­ment on the existing services because these are not at the level needed even now.

4. A network of clean and air-conditioned trains inside towns should be provided.

5. Private companies should provide vehicles and buses for female employees.

6. Academic studies and strategies should be undertaken for reaching practical solutions for ensuring the rights of women in regard to movement generally, and meeting their transportation needs in a manner in keeping with their dignity.

E.