On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced that it would legally allow women to drive, ending a law that was recognized globally as oppressive to the women living there.
The New York Times reports that the change is thought to have been put in place by the country’s 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who reportedly plans to majorly overhaul many of Saudi Arabia’s policies. As the Times notes, the law had harmed Saudi Arabia’s reputation abroad, as the belief that women shouldn’t drive is only shared by jihad groups like ISIS and the Taliban.
The new law permitting women to drive will take effect in June 2018, giving women who were formerly forced to hire drivers the ability to drive themselves to work and participate in the economy. Despite the fact that Saudi women are still usually required to get permission from their male guardians to do things like work and undergo medical treatments, the Saudi Arabian government has confirmed that they will not need the same permission to obtain driver’s licenses.
“There is no wrong time to do the right thing,” Khaled bin Salman, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S, told CNN, adding, “it’s not religious nor a cultural issue.”
Meanwhile, Saudi women have been posting their ~current moods~ to Twitter following the news:
Mood #قيادة_المرأة #الملك_ينتصر_لقيادة_المرأة pic.twitter.com/Bolz4c71jr
— Vióliنّ. (@_Violiin) September 26, 2017
MOODDDD #قيادة_المراة_للسيارة pic.twitter.com/Erc5KWwNQl
— nana (@nana_andjany) September 26, 2017
#قيادة_المرأة
Mood: pic.twitter.com/LXFjK9O29l— مشمشا (@__i1111) September 26, 2017
While Saudi Arabia still has a long way to go when it comes to both genders having fair and equal rights, this is a HUGE step in the right direction.