Saudi Arabia began issuing driving licences to women, on Monday, lifting a decades old ban. Last year Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had issued an order to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia.
The conservative kingdom has announced that it will end the ban on June 24. A video on social media has captured the moment but has attracted a mixed reaction with some lauding the move and others criticising the long time it took to lift the ban.
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“The first group of women today received their Saudi driving licences,” the official Saudi Press Agency said. “The general directorate of traffic started replacing international driving licences recognised in the kingdom with Saudi licences,” it added. The swap came after women applicants were made to undergo a “practical test”, it said but did not offer details.
“Ten Saudi women made history on Monday when they were issued driving licences,” said the information ministry’s Centre for International Communication (CIC). “Expectations are that next week an additional 2,000 women will join the ranks of licensed drivers in the kingdom.”
Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive, has long faced global criticism for oppression of women.
Prince Mohammed, who recently undertook a global tour aimed at reshaping his kingdom’s austere image, has sought to break the long-held restrictions on women.
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Another step in that direction was the landmark law, passed last week, to criminalise sexual harassment, introducing a prison term of up to five years and a maximum penalty of 300,000 riyals ($80,000).
The Prince has also ended a decades-long ban on cinemas, allowed mixed-gender concerts and clipped the powers of the long-feared religious police.