An historic day for Saudi Arabia: Women can now drive

By, 2017-09-27

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) announced last night that it would allow women to drive, ending a longstanding policy that has become a global symbol of the oppression of women in the ultraconservative kingdom.

This big decision is set to take place in June 2018, was announced in a royal decree read live on state television and in a simultaneous media event in Washington. The decision highlights the damage that the ban on women driving has done to the kingdom’s international reputation and its hopes for a public relations benefit from the reform.

Saudi leaders also hope the new policy will help the economy by increasing women’s participation in the workplace. Many working Saudi women spend much of their salaries on drivers or must be driven to work by male relatives.

Within minutes of the Royal Decree allowing Saudi women to drive the car, the arabic hashtag #الملك_ينتصر_لقيادة_المرأة became the busiest hashtag on "Twitter" in Saudi Arabia, where many of the “tweeters” expressed their welcome and happiness with the long-awaited decision, and of course the hashtag was not free from people making fun of how roads in Saudi will look like after this sudden decision.