Women in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to drive for the first time - here's what they still can't do

Advertisement
Women in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to drive for the first time - here's what they still can't do

Saudi Arabia Woman Driving

AP Photo/Hasan Jamali

Aziza Yousef drives a car on a highway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, March 29, 2014, as part of a campaign to defy Saudi Arabia's ban on women driving.

Saudi Arabia announced in a royal decree on Tuesday that the kingdom will end its longstanding ban on women driving.

Advertisement

The news was met with jubilation from women's rights activists - the ultraconservative country is known for its repressive guardianship system that renders many aspects of women's lives under the control of their male relatives.

Although Saudi Arabia has made some progress toward gender equality in recent years, it is still viewed as one of the world's worst countries for women. Even without the ban on driving, women face a variety of barriers - both formal and informal - to participating in public life.

Here are some of the restrictions women in Saudi Arabia face: