Uber Embraces Permission for Women to Drive in Saudi Arabia
In response to the lift of the female driving ban earlier this year, Uber have hired their first female employees in Saudi Arabia and are likely to face backlash for their decision.
The Gulf kingdom is the last country in the world to grant permission for women to legally drive. King Salman lifted the ban on female driving in September 2017 and it will be fully implemented by 24th of June 2018. The rule is thought to be part of Vision 2030, the plan that is supposed to transform the country’s economy and lower its dependence on oil.
So far, women in Saudi Arabia have not been allowed to drive cars and therefore they have been dependent on their male relatives, or spent large sums of money on taxis. The small minority of women, just over 20%, who do have jobs, have been forced to spend a significant portion of their wages on drivers in order to be able to commute.
King Salman’s measure is regarded as a big step towards the emancipation of women in Saudi Arabian society. However, there are many officials and clerics, who strongly disagree with the decision, claiming that it is inappropriate and will have a negative impact on families. Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan even went as far as to state that female drivers will risk damage of their ovaries and pelvis.
There seems to be a movement towards liberalisation in Saudi Arabia with women gaining more rights such as being allowed to watch matches at football stadiums. Senior members of the Saudi Muslim clerical body recently suggested that women should not have to wear abaya (full-length dress like robe worn in some Muslim countries).
Uber, as well as its Dubai counterpart, Careem, both made their first female hires in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. Although 80% of Uber’s Saudi Arabian clientele consists of women, the app risk losing customers due to prevalent social stigmas. The company may also gain a new segment of customers that are women, who refuse to be driven by men. Being driven by an unknown man is unacceptable for some conservative women.
“We will partner up with necessary stakeholders to facilitate the paperwork, training access, and access to vehicles, including access to driving schools run by third party partners,” says Zeid Hreish, Uber’s general manager in Saudi Arabia tells CNN.
Women still face many restrictions in Saudi Arabia, but driving is no longer one of them. Although the changes may seem like very small steps towards granting more rights for women, they are huge steps for a country such as Saudi Arabia, in which women have only been allowed to vote and run for seats in local councils since 2015.
By Maja Krasnicka