Behind The Wheel, A Year On: Saudi Women Savour New Freedom

Qatif, Saudi Arabia, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2019 ) :Buckling up in a pearl-silver Lexus, Sabeeha al-Fakher takes the wheel and relegates her son to the passenger seat, a role reversal the 68-year-old Saudi widow never imagined would be possible in her lifetime.

Until June 24 last year, the act would have been considered a crime, where few have preached for decades that allowing women to drive would promote gender mixing and promiscuity.

Overturning the world's only ban on female drivers has potentially put thousands of women behind the wheel in the most visible symbol of the kingdom's modernisation drive.

Among them is Fakher, a mother-of-five who never thought she would see the reform, which ushered in a new era of freedom and mobility for women.

"I still don't believe it," she said.

Her husband, who passed away a decade ago, secretly taught her how to drive during trips to neighbouring Bahrain in the 1990s, despite the risk of infuriating family patriarchs.

The reform has freed many Saudi women from their dependence on private chauffeurs and male relatives.

- Arson attacks - The move was part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's much-trumpeted reform drive aimed at overhauling the conservative petro-state, long criticised over its treatment of women.

However, with the kingdom tightening its purse strings amid low oil prices, their new-found mobility allows women to join a labour market chronically short of female workers.

Some three million women could receive licences and start driving by 2020, according to consultancy firm PwC.

Only a handful of driving schools for women have cropped up in Saudi cities, where applicants have rushed to learn to drive cars and even Harley-Davidson motorbikes -- scenes unimaginable until recently.

Social media is rife with memes of traffic pileups blamed on women drivers, along with condescending messages advising women to "avoid wearing makeup" while driving.

The woman had reportedly started driving to save money -- she had been spending much of her salary on hiring a driver.