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A Saudi woman whose imprisonment for driving drew global attention to the issue says she is more determined than ever to continue her campaign.
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| Activist Manal al-Sharif is a computer security expert and mother of one |
Manal
al-Sharif, 32, was held for nine days in May after driving in the eastern city
of Khobar.
"We
won't stop until the first Saudi license is issued to a woman," she told
the BBC in her first interview since.
Earlier
this week, prosecutors in the city of Jeddah announced they were going to
prosecute a woman for driving.
The
campaign to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia has gained momentum in recent
weeks.
On 17 June,
dozens of women took to their cars across the country in open defiance of the
ban on driving.
The
campaign gained the support of prominent women around the world, including US
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
'Positive
change'
Manal
al-Sharif's imprisonment led to Amnesty International calling for her release.
She said
she was surprised by the level of coverage and support she received. "I
didn't know the whole world was moved."
More
importantly, she said, had been the reaction from women in Saudi Arabia itself.
"Women
tell me they are different since 21 May - the day I was arrested. It's a
positive change, they believe now. [Driving] is one of our smallest rights. If
we fight, we can build women who trust themselves, have belief to get the
bigger rights we are fighting for."
Some Saudi
women say the authorities have slightly relaxed their attitudes to female
drivers, merely cautioning women rather than making them sign a pledge not to
do it again.
Jeddah case
Earlier
this week, however, prosecutors in Jeddah - on the Red Sea coast - announced
they intended to pursue a case against a 35-year-old woman driver.
The woman,
who has not been named, claims she had no alternative to driving as she needed
to get to hospital and there was no man to take her there.
Zafi Safar
from the Women2Drive campaign has spoken to her and said she had told the judge
who set her trial date for September that he did not understand the background
to her case.
Such
setbacks appear not to be deterring many Saudi women from pursuing their
campaign.
Manal
al-Sharif, one of the organisers of Women2Drive, says they have been contacted
by 1,023 women who want to drive - and by 192 women from across the country who
are willing to teach them.
They are
now looking to recruit volunteers.
"Women
want to drive and they are taking actual steps towards that," said Ms
Sharif.
 |
Women2Drive
is an initiative demanding the right for women
to drive and travel freely in Saudi Arabia. |
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