Saudi woman to be lashed for defying driving ban

[super jumbe]

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a woman to 10 lashes for breaking the country's ban on female drivers. The woman, identified only as Shema, was found guilty of driving in Jeddah in July.

Women2drive, which campaigns for women to be allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, says she has already lodged an appeal.

In recent months, scores of women have driven vehicles in Saudi cities in an effort to put pressure on the monarchy to change the law.

The sentence comes two days after the Saudi leader King Abdullah announced women would be allowed to vote for the first time in 2015.

Two other women are due to appear in court later this year on similar charges, correspondents say.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15079620

[gmb45]

hmm should ban all bird drivers here.

[super jumbe]

On June 17 around 40 women with international drivers? licenses participated in a ?women2drive? campaign. No law bars women from driving, but senior government clerics have ruled against the practice. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to prohibit women from driving.

The Saudi guardianship system continues to treat women as minors. Under this discriminatory system, girls and women of all ages are forbidden from traveling, studying, or working without permission from their male guardians.

New laws introduced or proposed in 2011 criminalize the exercise of basic human rights such as freedom of expression, assembly, and association, authorities continue to suppress or fail to protect the rights of 9 million Saudi women and girls, we have supported Malala Yousafzai, She has won the European Union's prestigious human rights award and was one of the favourites to win the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday but the world failed to help Saudi women for the basic human rights.


Malala Saudi Women need your help.

[flyingpig]

Not that I agree with it, but that is the rules in that country....They dont like it, let them have a revolution and change it via democracy. It would happen if the will was there.

There are lots of things that happen in this country that outsiders look at us and think we are crazy. We all act within the social confines are which we are brought up.

There are worse things going on in that country. People get their hands chopped off for shoplifting in a place called chop chop square.

[rds60h]

Saudi Arabia, where the extremes of Islam appear to be practised and women are expected to wear the Burka or Niqab, so the banning of women drivers is not really unexpected.

Britain


Isreal

Non-Muslim Countries, which seems the sensible action ?

[GastonJ]

They wouldn't be able to tell whether they were going to rob the local bank with all that gear covering their faces, so it's understandable that they ban them form driving 10 lashes will stop her sitting in the drivers seat for a while. Allowing them to vote - good move they can vote for a member of the royal family or for another member of the royal family to govern them, the same choices as everyone else there, but at least they'll get to vote Democracy at it's best, as supported by the US and UK.

[Meat-Head]

hmm should ban all bird drivers here.

Except the *HOT*bird from the parts place and that "Fiona Salty-Bitch" or whatever it is that drives the lorry on TV.