Women Behind the Wheel

In Saudi Arabia:

A Saudi mother said Sunday she defied a ban on women drivers in the ultra-conservative kingdom by getting behind the wheel for four days without being stopped.

Najla al-Hariri, a housewife in her mid-30s, said she drove non-stop for four days in the streets of the Red Sea city of Jeddah "to defend her belief that Saudi women should be allowed to drive."

"I don't fear being arrested because I am setting an example that my daughter and her friends are proud of," Hariri told AFP, adding she was offering driving lessons for women.

The reason for the ban is naturally control of women, just as that's the reason for the need of a woman to have a male relative with her when she travels further away.

Al-Hariri also points out another myth about the Saudi ban on women driving, the idea that women are treated like queens, having their male relatives as their chauffeurs:

"We are always under their mercy to give us a lift," she said.

And of course she is right, because what recourse do the women have if the men refuse?
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