King Salman of Saudi Arabia has announced a historic decree, granting women the ability to obtain driving licenses.
Rights groups and Saudi activists have been pushing for driving equality for years but were met with various criticisms with some claiming that women driving would lead to the collapse of the royal family and one cleric even claiming that driving would damage ovaries.
“This is a great victory for many Saudi women. This was the one file and issue which Saudi women have fought not just years, but decades for. Every time we asked, we were told the time was not right.” Said Latifa Shaalan, a Saudi female member of Saudi Arabia’s Shoura Council.
Heavy economic benefits are expected as Saudi Arabia consistently has more female graduates than male graduates. Additionally, there is an estimated 800,000 drivers employed for the sole purpose to drive women.
The decision to abolish a longstanding policy widely viewed as a human rights violation has been met with nearly universal praise. This hugely important move has shown how detrimental the kingdom’s female driver ban to their international reputation and now Saudi Arabia looks to benefit from improved political relations.