When These Gutsy Women Got Behind Wheels And Defied Their Country's Driving Ban

A Saudi social activist, Hisham Fageeh, shared his support for the protest using a satirical a cappella song based on Bob Marley's hit, No Woman, No Cry, that's quickly going viral. Fageeh whistles, snaps and scratches his beard to build the melody behind his tune, No Woman, No Drive.

The song, produced with a media collective called Telfaz11, uses a mocking tone to list reasons why women shouldn't be allowed to drive. "Say I remember when you used to sit in the family car, but backseat. Ova-ovaries all safe and well, so you can make lots and lots of babies," he sings, smiling broadly.

The video was released on Saturday in line with the “October 26 driving” campaign, which urged Saudis to put its logo on their cars and called upon women with international driving licenses to get behind the wheel in the kingdom on that day.

Saudi women got behind the wheel on Saturday to protest the ultra-conservative Saudi Arabian government's ban on women driving cars, according to media reports.

globalpost.com

While some reports claimed the anticipated "drive-in" protest had been mostly abandoned, others reported more than 60 women had taken to the streets in their cars, citing activists and online videos.

Some women said they received harassing phone calls on Saturday from men working for the interior ministry.

bbc.co.uk

Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki issued a warning ahead of the campaign, saying anyone who disturbed public order would suffer consequences.

A Saudi Arabian cleric said 'physiological science' shows that if a woman drives her ovaries will get pushed up into her pelvis and she will run a greater risk of having children with clinical disorders.

Sheikh Saleh bin Saad al-Lohaidan claims that "physiological science" supports Saudi Arabia's ban on female drivers. The comment came as activists step up their campaign for women in Saudi Arabia to be allowed to drive.

"If a woman drives a car, not out of pure necessity, that could have negative physiological impacts as functional and physiological medical studies show that it automatically affects the ovaries and pushes the pelvis upwards," he told local news website Sabq.org.

bbc.co.uk

"This is why we find that children born to most women who continuously drive suffer from clinical disorders of varying degrees." al-Luhaydan siad

The cleric is speaking out against female driving because activists are trying to end the country's male-only driving rules. A popular online campaign is encouraging women to drive on Oct. 26 in an act of defiance.

medicaldaily.com

The ban on women driving is not backed by a specific law, but only men are granted driving licenses. Women can be fined for driving without a license but have also been detained and put on trial in the past on charges of political protest.

reuters.com

The ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia has been a source of major debate in recent years, with more female activists calling on Saudi women to defy the country’s unofficial driving ban.

dailystar.com.lb

Officials have now blocked domestic access to the campaign’s popular blog, where supporters have so far submitted 12,000 signatures.

medicaldaily.com

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