Saudi Arabia finally agrees to let women drive

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced in a simultaneous media event over state broadcast and in Washington that it would be ending its longstanding ban preventing women from driving.

The ban on driving has long been seen as a symbol of the repression of women in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, which operates under the rule of Shariah law. The ban has long been criticized and has hurt Saudi Arabia’s image worldwide, and several women have protested it by driving anyway, but it has not been until recently, with the rise of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a 32-year-old son of the king, that the drive to overturn the ban got any traction.

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The crown prince has put forward a plan to attempt to overhaul the society and the economy of the Middle Eastern nation, and this step is part of that effort.

In addition to helping Saudi Arabia’s image worldwide, the reversal of the ban could help drive the economy, as women who found hiring a private cab or turning to ride-sharing apps an obstacle to entering the workforce.

However, there is still much to be done. There is no infrastructure in place to teach women to drive or to help them get permits and licenses, and police will have to be trained on how to interact with women drivers when, in Saudi society, there is very little interaction between men and women who are not related.

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