WASHINGTON—When Manal al-Sharif posted a YouTube video of herself driving a car in Saudi Arabia last year, she was accompanied by her brother and wearing all the right things for a Saudi woman venturing out—a hijab head covering, and an abaya, a full black cloak.
A day later she was hauled into a police station because of that video, held for six hours and released, only to be rearrested and sent to a correctional facility.
Al-Sharif had learned to drive on vacation in America and her crime was to drive in her hometown Al–Khober, and encourage other women.
Women are not allowed to drive in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a ruling that joins a long list of discriminatory Saudi laws. They include restrictions on gaining a passport or travel outside the country, lesser pay for the same work, and no guarantee of constitutional equality before the law.
