In a region convulsed by a popular yearning for change, a group of women is pressing authorities for permission to start driving in Saudi Arabia — and they’re asking automakers for help.
The Saudi women’s campaign, a grassroots movement that has spread through the Internet, is asking the Japanese brand Subaru to stop selling cars in Saudi Arabia until the ban on female drivers is lifted.
Subaru sells only a few hundred cars a year in the desert kingdom, but Saudi women say the brand is known for catering to women. They plan to reach out to other automakers as well.
Sara Al-Haidar, 30, a graduate student in Riyadh, says the ban on driving isn’t the most pressing issue for Saudi women, but it’s an obvious starting point. “Females here are dependent on their fathers or husbands or brothers to get the smallest errands done,” she said. “We’d like to be able to do these things ourselves.”
The Detroit News
