For a long time, Saudi Arabia was the only country globally that prohibited women from driving. The Saudi Arabian interior ministry, specifically the head of the traffic police, refused to issue driver's licenses to women. Although there was no formal traffic law explicitly barring female drivers, women who dared to drive would be arrested and punished by law enforcement.
This strict prohibition on female driving was deeply rooted in Saudi Arabia's cultural and religious identity. Saudi Arabia follows a strict branch of Sunni Islam called Wahhabism, which segregates males and females in both private and public life. It created a system that relegated women and girls to second-class citizenship, mainly confined to the domestic sphere. Females typically had to rely on the permission of their male guardians, such as fathers, brothers, or husbands, for all activities. Supporters of the ban once argued that it could protect women from potential dangers on the road and from harassment and violence by other male drivers. However, in reality, this ban severely restricted Saudi women's freedom of movement. It was a significant factor contributing to gender disparity in the country and part of a larger system that made Saudi Arabia one of the worst countries in terms of women's rights, preventing women from easily acquiring jobs and fully participating in public life and the formal economy.
In a remarkable turn of events, in 2017, King Salman issued a royal order. Starting from June 2018, the decades-old ban was lifted, allowing women to legally drive in Saudi Arabia. This was seen as a major step in the country's social modernization process, as part of the "Saudi Vision 2030" series of social and economic reforms. Despite this progress, Saudi women still face certain restrictions under the male guardianship laws, such as needing male consent for activities like obtaining a passport, traveling abroad, or getting married.
