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Witness History: The right to drive in Saudi Arabia

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manal cropped.jpg

22/12/2021 GMT

The right to drive in Saudi Arabia

BBC World Service - Witness History, The right to drive in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi women who used social media to campaign against being banned from the roads.

In 2011, cybersecurity expert Manal Al-Sharif helped found the Women2Drive movement. It was designed to force the Saudi Arabian government to overturn its ban on women driving cars - one of the many restrictions on women in the Kingdom. Inspired by the mood of the Arab Spring, Saudi women got behind the wheel and then posted videos of themselves all over social media. The movement attracted international attention and the ban on women drivers was eventually lifted in 2017. Manal Al-Sharif talks to Petra Zivic.


PHOTO: Manal Al Sharif in Dubai in 2013 (Getty Images)

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