Women Drivers of Saudi Arabia

Women in Saudi Arabia were barred from driving, a restriction the scholar David Commins dates to 1957. No written statute was ever cited, though in 2013 the Interior Ministry warned that existing laws would be applied to violators. On 6 November 1990, 47 women drove in Riyadh. They were jailed for a day, had their passports confiscated, and some lost their jobs. Religious officials called for their beheading, but they were released. On 21 May 2011 Manal al-Sharif was detained after posting a video of herself driving, and released on bail on 30 May on condition that she would not drive or speak to the media. Before a protest drive on 26 October 2013 the Interior Ministry warned women not to drive, and police set up roadblocks in Riyadh. In late 2014 Loujain al-Hathloul filmed herself driving from the UAE toward the Saudi border, where she was stopped and held for 73 days.

On 26 September 2017 King Salman ordered that women be allowed to drive. In mid May 2018, weeks before the change took effect, authorities detained Loujain al- Hathloul, Eman al-Nafjan, Aisha Al-Mana, Aziza al-Yousef, Madeha al-Ajroush and others who had campaigned for it. The ban was lifted on 24 June 2018, and licences began to be issued while many of the activists remained in detention. Al-Hathloul's release was announced by her sister on 10 February 2021. She still faced a five year travel ban. The act of driving became legal. Those who had campaigned for it were still treated as offenders.