Saudi Arabia Woman Driver Crash
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Female driver who defied Saudi motoring ban dies in fatal road accident
By
Richard Hartley-parkinson
Last updated at PM on 24th January 2012
A woman who defied a driving ban on female motorists in Saudi Arabia has died in a car crash.
Another was hurt in the crash in the only country in the world where females are banned from getting behind the wheel.
A police spokesman said that one of the women was killed instantly but the other had to go to hospital to be treated for her injuries.
The woman s death comes months after Manal Al-Sherif was detained for being behind the wheel in the only country in the world where women are banned from driving
They were in a four-wheel drive on Saturday evening in the northern Hael province when the accident happened.
One woman was immediately killed and her companion who was driving the car was hospitalised after she suffered several injuries police spokesman Abdulaziz al-Zunaidi told AFP.
Their deaths come after they joined a
growing number of women who have defied the ban since a high-profile
campaign by a 32-year-old computer security consultant.
Manal
al-Sherif was arrested and detained for 10 days in May after posting a
video of herself on YouTube as she drover around Khobar, a city to the
east of the country.
There has been a rise in women drivers since Manal al Sherif pictured was arrested and held for 10 days in May last year
al-Sherif and a group of other women started a Facebook page called Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself, which urged authorities to lift the driving ban.
Several other Saudi women went on to film themselves behind the wheel of a car in the days after al-Sherif s detention.
Women struggle to get around in Saudi
Arabia, and it isn t just a result of the driving ban.
Taxis can be
sparse and some men refuse to drive a woman without a chaperone - usually their husband or a close male relative.
One of the arguments that was thrown out by officials was that it was illegal for women to possess a driving license but not for them to drive.
In September, a woman in Jeddah named Shayma Jastaniah was found guilty of driving through the streets.
She was sentenced to 10 lashes as a result of the charges despite holding an international driving license.
Challenge: A Facebook page set up encourages women to take to their cars and drive on June 17.
If you couldn t make it through the video, here s the rundown: each Saudi woman has a male guardian, typically their father or brother or husband, who has the same.
Top Posts. What Exactly do Women in Saudi Arabia Wear Under the Abaya. Let s learn some Saudi Arabic - some essential and useful words; Saudi Arabia: How do YOU.
The icon of the campaign, Manal al-Sherif, a 32-year-old computer security consultant, was arrested on May 22 and detained for 10 days after posting on YouTube a video of herself driving her car around the eastern city of Khobar.
Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women
are not allowed to drive.
However, they get behind the wheel in desert regions away from the capital.
There have been several incidents reported in recent years of women being
killed in accidents while driving despite the ban, one of a host of
restrictions imposed on women in the kingdom.
One woman was immediately killed and her companion who was driving the
car was hospitalised after she suffered several injuries when their
four-wheel-drive vehicle overturned late on Saturday, said police spokesman
Abdulaziz al-Zunaidi.
In November 2010, a Saudi who defied the driving ban was killed along with
three of her 10 female passengers when her car overturned in a crash.
A group of activists launched an internet campaign last year urging Saudi
women to defy the ban on driving.
Manal al-Sherif, a 32-year-old computer security consultant, who is the poster
girl of the campaign, was arrested on May 22 and detained for 10 days after
posting on YouTube a video of herself driving her car around the eastern
city of Khobar.
Since then, women regularly get behind the wheels of their cars, according to
the activists.
Five Saudi women were arrested while driving in late June in Jeddah.
Women in the kingdom who have the means hire drivers while others must depend
on the goodwill of male relatives.
They are also obliged to be veiled in public, and cannot travel unless
accompanied by their husbands or a close male relative.
- Get the latest weird news stories from all over the world. Find bizarre and offbeat news about people, nature and unexplained mysteries at ABC News.
- Manal al-Sharif, a women s rights activist from Saudi Arabia who helped start a women s right to drive campaign in 2011.
