Coming up next: Saudi women as taxi drivers

Following King Salman’s decree of last month that allowed Saudi women to drive within the country, (: https://goo.gl/yiALtz), and 8 months from implementing the Royal Order, a group of Saudi women are bracing up to sit behind the wheels as cab drivers. In this regard, some 30 housewives and female employees enrolled in an introductory recruitment session set off by the Khobar-based ride-hailing company, Careem, boasting a car rental with a driver service application. On the projected session, Nawal Abdel Jabbar told AFP that after the historic long sought-for decision by King Salman, “I wanted to come here and prepare myself to become a taxi driver (Captinah).” “It is a privilege and honor for the woman to be liberated and become self-reliant,” Jabbar said. The Royal decision, she added, will give go-ahead for more similar steps in defense of women, including combating harassment. For its part, Princess Nourah Bint Abdelrahman University, which presents itself as the largest university for women in the world, announced on Twitter the opening of a women-only driving school. Similarly, Saudi female activist Manal Cherif who for years advocated the rights of women to drive in the Kingdom, said she believes “the time when women were forced to remain silent has gone forever.” Cherif tweeted saying that she has woken up to what she described as a New Saudi Arabia. (An Nahar, October 13, 14, 2017)

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It is never too late: Women in Saudia allowed to drive!