Social media has been taken over with images of women in the driver’s seat in Saudi Arabia after the ban has been lifted.
26 June 2018
| Last updated on 4 August 2019
Image Credit: harpersbazaaralarabiya
On June 24th, 2018 or 10-10-1439 (the date in the Islamic calendar) the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia became obsolete in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Women enthusiastically got into their cars to start driving at 12:01 am already on Sunday morning.
Although there was never an official law stating that women aren’t allowed to drive in the Kingdom, it became enforced by cultural norms and religious views in the country. Saudi Arabia was the last country in the world to lift the ban on women driving in the country.
SEE ALSO: Women In Saudi Arabia Will Soon Be Allowed To Drive
In order to help smooth out the process and encourage more women to start driving, the Saudi government made sexual harassment illegal in the Kingdom and shopping malls started allocating pink women-only parking bays.
The decision to lift the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia is part Saudi’s Vision 2030 campaign to start weaning the country off of income generated from the oil industry and start generating alternative income streams.
Empowering and allowing women to more easily become part of the workforce is an essential part of this.
Here are 20 of our favourite moments of women being allowed to drive:
