SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Women Win Right to Stand and Vote

On Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011 King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia announced that Saudi women now have the right to serve as members of the Shura Council, the appointed consultative council that advises the king, and are allowed to run as candidates and nominate candidates in the next set of municipal elections which will be in 2015. This new law will make a historic change in the role of women in Saudi Arabia.

This is an important event as Saudi Arabian women have been struggling for the chance to vote for years. In a CNN news interview, Saudi women's rights activist Manal Al-Sharif expressed her joy over the king's announcement. “It's thrilling. We weren't expecting it. [The King] surprise[d] us [by saying] you can vote, you can stand for election and you can even be a member in the council which is the legislative body of the country.” The White House also hailed King Abdullah's announcement, saying, “These reforms recognize the significant contributions women in Saudi Arabia make to their society and will offer them new ways to participate in the decisions that affect their lives and communities.”

Overall, I feel that this new law is a success for women in their struggle for equality as not only are they allowed to vote for candidates but run as candidates themselves.

And yet, they may be allowed to run, but they still can't drive. There is a law that states that women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive motor vehicles. This law has been in place for decades and has prevented women from being able to freely maneuver around their country without using taxis or having a male drive. Consequently, the great success of the new law for women was shadowed by an event that took place only two days later. In July of 2011, a woman only identified as Shema was found guilty of driving a car in Jeddah. On Tuesday, Sept. 27 she was sentenced to ten lashes as punishment for her crime. This created outrage from the public as protests were made and angry opinions were given on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The irony is that although women have now been given the right to vote, a woman will be brutally punished for simply driving a car. It feels like such a great step was taken forward only to have a step taken back. Fortunately, on Wednesday , Sept. 28, King Abdullah revoked the punishment and Shema will no longer be flogged. Despite this being good news, it still stands that although Saudi women can now vote, they cannot drive to the voting polls in order to place their ballots.

Campaign organizers, who say they intend to press on with their effort, are calling the June 17 event a success because there were no arrests or major incidents.

In the face of injustice of the driving ban, Saudi women are taking a stand for their rights. Women have been getting behind the wheel and rebelling against the law since June of 2011. Women2Drive, an organization run by Saudi women's rights activists, has begun campaigns attempting to convince the government to give women the right to drive. On June 17, 2011 Women2Drive organized a demonstration where women drove around Jeddah in protest of the law. Nearly 60 women responded to the call by women's rights activists to collectively defy the driving ban, according to a tally posted at #Women2Drive, the campaign's Twitter page. This small number and a weak turn-out of drivers since then, has disappointed many women including biology professor Aziza Yousef at King Saud University. “I expected more to drive,” she told the Global Post. “But I know there are a lot of ladies waiting for the others to make the initiative…they don't want to be the number one. They will follow.”

In light of this, there is a prominent leader representing hope and change in the world for Saudi Women, Princess Ameerah. The princess has made a positive impact in the world for Saudi women as she makes visits to various countries around the world, attending speeches and discussions and speaking about the injustices that women face in her country. She made an appearance on Pierce Morgan Tonight on CNN on Sept. 22, 2011, only three days before the king's announcement, and spoke, amongst other things, about the driving ban. “Building civil society and building communities of women to speak up is important. A lot of Saudi women want to drive…I think a decision by the king is the best way to go with this just like the decision made in the 60's about women's education and now 60 percent of enrollment in universities, even more than men, are women. The whole region is impatient and we want change but nevertheless we are optimistic.”

Progress is indeed being made in the Arabic region. A collective group of consecutive protests have been made since Dec. of 2010 in several countries including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Morocco, Israel, Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria. These countries have taken part in civil resistance involving strikes, demonstrations, marches and rallies as well as using the media to create awareness of the repressions and censorship their governments have imposed upon the citizens. It has become so significant that it is being called the “Arab Spring.” This “Spring” has not been necessarily peaceful, but it has shown the resolve of the citizens of these countries in their attempt to gain their rights. These rebellions and fights for civil rights are signs that more democratic ideals are now being spread in that area. The law in Saudi Arabia giving women the right to vote is a reflection of this.

At last the women in Saudi Arabia are seeing change. They are now allowed to make a difference in their communities and have more responsibilities. Granted, they still face certain obstacles such as the driving ban, but progress is definitely being made. I hope that such progress continues and that sooner rather than later, women in suppressive nations will enjoy the same rights as men.