Resistance Movement

While doing initial research on resistance movements in Saudi Arabia, I noticed that there have been very few. One name that kept sticking out, however, was Wajeha al-Huwaider, a Saudi women’s rights activist. She has been fighting for woman’s rights in Saudi Arabia, with particular emphasis on their right to drive and travel freely. In March of 2008 on International Woman’s Day, Huwaider , created a YouTube video of her driving on a public highway. This was an act of civil disobedience, as it is illegal for Saudi women to drive. Her goal was to have the ban on female driving lifted by a year later, but the ban is still in effect.11

The topic of a woman’s right to drive has seen some progress. In the past, there could be no discussion concerning it. In 2007 however, Huwaider was one of the organizers of a petition with more than 1,000 signatures that was sent to King Abdulla, asking him to change the law and allow women to drive. The last time a petition was sent concerning this issue was 1990, with hostility emanating back from the government. The King seemed somewhat receptive to the most recent petition.11

Huwaider is one of the few women allowed to write in Saudi Arabia, as she is a prominent figure. She often writes opinion pieces focusing on women’s issues. In an article for the Washington Post, Huwaider writes, “I am not a dangerous person, so why do they turn me away? Because I refuse to present a document signed by my male "guardian," giving his permission for me to travel. And why do I do that? I possess such a document, but it is humiliating to have to produce it, and I am tired of being humiliated solely because I am a woman.” She goes on to say that giving women the power to drive would give men much less control over them. While visiting her son’s at boarding school in Virginia, Huwaider staged a demonstration in front of a car dealership, asking for U.S. automakers to support Saudi women’s right to drive. She told them that Saudi women want to buy their cars and that many could afford to do so, if they were allowed to drive.8