Saudi Arabian women to be allowed driving licences

Saudi activist Manal Al Sharif, who now lives in Dubai, drives her car in the Gulf Emirate city
AFP/Getty Images
Sean Morrison @seanmorrison_26 September 2017

Saudi Arabian women will soon be allowed to drive, state media has said.

King Salman issued a decree to lift the ban, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

It comes after a years-long campaign from protest groups.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that has forbidden women from driving.

Some Saudi women have in the past been fined and imprisoned for getting behind the wheel of a car.

The royal decree reportedly ordered the formation of a ministerial body to give advice within 30 days before implementing the order by June 2018.

The decision comes amid a broad reform program that last week led to women being for the first time allowed into a sports stadium.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT