Women's rights campaigns Manal al-Sharif

1 women s rights campaigns

1.1 women s driving rights in saudi arabia
1.2 2011 women driving campaign
1.3 2011 women prisoners campaign

women s rights campaigns

in addition professional career, al-sharif has campaigned women s rights in saudi arabia many years. according new york times, al-sharif has reputation drawing attention lack of rights women . regarding 2011 women driving campaign, amnesty international stated manal al-sharif following in long tradition of women activists around world have put on line expose , challenge discriminatory laws , policies .

women s driving rights in saudi arabia

as of 2013, women in saudi arabia have limited freedom of movement , in practice not allowed drive motor vehicles. in 1990, dozens of women in riyadh drove cars in protest, imprisoned 1 day, had passports confiscated, , of them lost jobs. in september 2007, association protection , defense of women s rights in saudi arabia, co-founded wajeha al-huwaider , fawzia al-uyyouni, gave 1,100 signature petition king abdullah asking women allowed drive. on international women s day 2008, huwaider filmed herself driving , received international media attention after video posted on youtube. inspired arab spring, woman jeddah, najla hariri, started driving in second week of may 2011, stating before in saudi, never heard protests. [but] after has happened in middle east, started accept group of people going outside , saying want in loud voice, , has had impact on me.

2011 women driving campaign

a political cartoon carlos latuff saudi women movement lift ban on right drive titled new saudi arabia s traffic sign

in 2011, group of women including manal al-sharif started facebook campaign named teach me how drive can protect myself or women2drive says women should allowed drive. campaign calls women start driving 17 june 2011. 21 may 2011, 12,000 readers of facebook page had expressed support. al-sharif describes action acting within women s rights, , not protesting . wajeha al-huwaider impressed campaign , decided help.

in late may, al-sharif drove car in khobar al-huwaider filming. video posted youtube , facebook. in video, al-sharif stated, volunteer campaign girls of country [learn drive]. @ least times of emergency, god forbid. if whoever driving them gets heart attack? detained religious police (cpvpv) on 21 may , released after 6 hours. 23 may 2011, 600,000 people had watched video.

the youtube video of al-sharif s drive became inaccessible @ original location, facebook page campaign deleted, , twitter account used al-sharif copied , altered . supporters republished original video , facebook page , summary of al-sharif s 5 recommended rules 17 june campaign published on blog , new york times.

on 22 may, al-sharif detained again , director general of traffic administration, major-general suleiman al-ajlan, questioned journalists regarding traffic regulations related women driving. al-ajlan stated journalists should put question members of consultative assembly of saudi arabia. rtbf suggested al-sharif had been sentenced 5 days imprisonment.

the new york times described al-sharif s campaign budding protest movement saudi government tried swiftly extinguish . associated press said saudi authorities cracked down harder usual on al-sharif, after seeing case become rallying call youths anxious change in context of arab spring. both news organisations attributed long duration of al-sharif s detention saudi authorities fear of wider protest movement in saudi arabia. amnesty international declared al-sharif prisoner of conscience , called immediate , unconditional release.

the day after al-sharif s arrest, woman detained driving car. drove 2 women passengers in ar rass , detained traffic police in presence of cpvpv. released after signing statement not drive again. in reaction al-sharif s arrest, several more saudi women published videos of driving during following days. on 26 may, authorities said al-sharif remain in detention until 5 june 2011, according waleed abu al-khair. al-sharif conditionally freed on 30 may. lawyer adnan al-saleh said had been charged inciting women drive , rallying public opinion . conditions of al-sharif s release include bail, returning questioning if requested, not driving , not talking media. possible reasons al-sharif s release, national cited al-sharif having written letter king abdullah, 4,500 saudis signing online petition king, , outpouring of indignation , disbelief both saudis , critics abroad ms al-sharif jailed not moral or criminal offence.

al-sharif filed objection general directorate of traffic in riyadh on 15 november 2011 because of officials rejecting driver s licence application. samar badawi filed similar lawsuit on 4 february 2012.

2011 women prisoners campaign

following 30 may release prison, al-sharif started twitter campaign called faraj release saudi, filipino , indonesian women prisoners in dammam women s prison locked because owe small sum of money cannot afford pay debt . al-sharif said women prisoners domestic workers remained in prison after completing prison terms, because not pay debts , because former saudi employers did not release them or fund flights return countries of origin. referred 22 indonesian women , named 4 women needing , stated amount of debts. called donations made directly director of dammam women s prison in order reimburse women s debts , free them.