Saudi women — and the men who support them — are tweeting updates as they drive cars through Saudi Arabia on Friday as part of an initiative that defies a ban on female drivers.
A large number of tweets can be viewed under the #Women2Drive hashtag. The majority of reports indicate that women have been able to drive freely without interference from police. As one Twitter user, @Maialshareef, said after posting a picture of herself ready to drive outside her house: “Ready to go, police car saw me and did nothing.”
Mohammad Al-Qahtani, co-founder and president of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, tweeted: “My wife, Maha, and I have just come from a 45-minute drive, she was the driver through Riyadh streets.”
One email update from Change.org Human Rights Editor Benjamin Joffe-Walt does indicate that at least one woman was stopped by police, but accompanied home without being arrested.
In the meantime, the campaign has received a bit of high profile male support from Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed, who tweeted: “I support the movement and #freedom of choice for my sisters in Saudi.”