SAUDI ARABIA―Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that does not allow women to drive.
In an interview conducted by CNNMoney’s Samuel Burke, business women Deemah AlYahya, Executive Director at Saudi Arabia’s Microsoft; Lateefa Alwaalan, founder and CEO of the Arabic coffee startup Yatooq; and Hayat Sindi, a biotechnologist, and founder and CEO of i2 are speaking out about the issue to bring awareness to the issue.
AlYahya believes Saudi women are leaders in both corporate and home life and those responsibilities, stressing that driving is a factor to a woman’s life in Saudi Arabia.
Alwaanlan explained to Burke challenges presented to female employees which includes punctuation issues to make meetings on time and work engagements. Alwaanlan argued that higher costs are associated with her female employees getting to work.
Sindi addresses the rule against women driving, but discusses how the forbiddance to drive hasn’t hindered the powerful women of Saudi Arabia today. Sindi explains that women being allowed to drive is “a matter of culture” and would like to have the option of driving herself to work one day.
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal tweeted on November 29 in Arabic and English: “Stop the debate: Time for women to drive.”
