RIYADH — When a woman in Saudi Arabia gets behind the wheel, the police stop her, call her male guardian and get both to pledge that it does not happen again. On Nov. 6, 1990, 47 women unsuccessfully protested the ban. They were punished so severely that no one dared again until Manal al-Sharif unsuccessfully tried in 2011 and was punished for it. This year, a new grassroots campaign was launched by a number of Saudis too large to be stopped and punished. The third time is always the charm.
No one expected the success of the Oct. 26 Women Driving Campaign. It came out of nowhere. The idea started with a draft of a petition. That draft was shown to and revised by dozens of Saudis. It inspired a logo. Then it was posted on a website and for the first couple of days, I still allowed other Saudis to revise a phrase here and there. On the third day, it was finalized. I was so thrilled when student Loujain al-Hathloul agreed to announce the campaign because we wanted to come out with a bang rather than have a buildup to it.
Hathloul did not disappoint. She has more than half a million followers, and her Keek video was watched by 5,000 people within the first 15 minutes of being posted. Then the campaign's hashtag on Twitter — #قيادة_26اكتوبر — became one of the most popular in the history of Saudi hashtags. Photos started coming in, and videos too. They were all posted on the website. Other Saudis had ideas and we took them in.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
