Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has tweeted his support that allows women to drive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He expounds that the move would be beneficial to the economy. The billionaire prince reiterated that more women drivers would mean less foreign workers in the country. It has been noted that the Prince’s argument is rooted on economics and not gender equality.
Prince Bin Talal is the nephew of Saudi’s King Abdulla. He is one of the richest men in the world and is known to be an advocate of women’s rights. His wife, Princess Ameerah al-Taweel made a controversial statement last year when she demanded the reform of driving laws in the country.
Economic benefits
According to the Prince, there is no question that dispensing with foreign drivers will be beneficial to Saudi economy. Currently, there are approximately 500,000 foreign drivers employed by Saudi families and corporations. This has been the practice for many years since Saudi’s conservatism did not allow women to participate in the transportation industry.
There are currently nine million foreign nationals residing in Saudi Arabia, employed in various industrial and business sectors. A recent crackdown against illegal immigrants saw the deportation of thousands of workers back to their native land. The King of Saudi Arabia has given foreign workers who have illegal status in legalizing their status within three months or leave the Kingdom.
Action, not words
Although the Prince’s words bring encouragement to women’s rights advocates, activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider calls for Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to match his words with concrete action. She said that the Prince would make headlines, but not much comes after that.
It was after an incident in 2011 that the Women2Drive campaign was initiated in Saudi Arabia. A tech consultant, Manal al-Sharif, was arrested for driving her own car. She was detained for a total of nine days. The movement demanded that Saudi women be allowed to drive and the women activists even posted photos and videos of them driving in many different locations.
A social issue
No laws exist that prohibits Saudi women to drive, yet they have not been allowed in the past. Many observers are saying that this is a social issue and a religious one as well. There are claims that certain religious edicts prevent women from driving. Other prohibitions based on religion include women not being educated in school without a male guardian present, as well as obtaining passports and bank accounts.
Traffic officials do not grant women the license to drive mainly because of prohibition from clerics. There has been a number of protests against this unreasonable prohibition that has no legal basis and women have been detained and arrested for speaking their minds on the issue.
Pushing for more
For women activists, this is just the start of the fight for more rights for women. Driving is just part of a host of liberties that they intend to fight for and enjoy, including marrying and traveling without written permission, studying, and working.
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