THE TIMES/www.theaustralian.com
WOMEN in Saudi Arabia are stepping up their campaign for equality with a legal challenge to the ban on female drivers.
After a string of protests last year in which women took to the roads, a group of activists and lawyers are preparing to take their cases to court.
The new campaign, called My Right to Dignity, aims to force the government to defend publicly the restrictions imposed on women by the religious establishment.
The activists will also challenge the kingdom's strict rules on guardianship that require women to get permission from a male guardian to work, study, travel, marry and receive some forms of surgery.
"The Arab Spring for women is on. Momentum is picking up and the world is watching us. There is no going back," said Madeeha al-Ajroosh, a campaigner for women's rights and part of the first concerted challenge to the driving ban in 1990.
Saudi Arabia remains the only country in the world to bar women from driving. The ban is not enshrined in law but imposed through fatwas handed down by senior clerics who regulate the observance of Wahhabism, the kingdom's ultraconservative brand of Sunni Islam.
Several lawyers specialising in Sharia have volunteered to challenge the legal and religious basis of these fatwas on the women's behalf. The campaign has also gathered widespread male support. Several women applied for driving licences over recent weeks and were turned down without an explanation. By challenging the ban through official channels, the activists plan to force the debate about religious fatwas into the open.
"We want the government to come out and say, once and for all, if there is a law [against women driving]. If there is a law we can challenge it," said Eman al-Nafjan, a prominent women's rights activist and blogger in Riyadh.
Saudi officials have claimed that the government intends to repeal the ban but needs time to persuade the religious elite and the wider population. They argue that a public campaign for the right to drive is counter-productive, angering the clerics and setting back the opportunity for progress.
"But they always say that. They said that in 1990 and nothing happened," Ms al-Nafjan said.
The new campaign comes as the demand for women's rights in Saudi Arabia is showing signs of increased momentum. King Abdullah has forced the pace of reform, facing down criticism from the clerics in the process. In a surprise announcement last year, the elderly monarch granted women the right to vote and hold political office for the first time.
Restrictions on women entering the job market have also been quietly dropped. A royal decree last year gave women the right to work in lingerie shops. Almost 30,000 women applied for these jobs, and Saudi shopping centres have been transformed by the sight of female sales staff. But women are dependent on male relatives to drive them to work or must pay for a driver, which devours most of their salary.
The problem is reinforced by the guardianship system, which strips women of many basic rights. The sexes are strictly segregated in many aspects of social life and women may not travel without permission from a male guardian. Some hospitals will not perform emergency surgery on women without written approval from a male guardian.
"The situation is unsustainable," said Ms al-Nafjan. "Women are working everywhere. They are not getting married as young as they used to. In the past, you were on the market as soon as you left school. Now women are going to college and starting jobs."
Despite their growing numbers, the activists remain a minority within Saudi Arabia. In the Wahhabi heartlands, the campaign is opposed by many women.
"The Government needs to face up to its part in educating and changing the minds of the public," Ms al-Ajroosh said.
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