Saudi woman to be flogged for driving

Women may soon be allowed to vote in Saudi Arabia, but they will still be whipped for driving a car. They may hold political office, and yet they can be flogged for doing what most people take for granted every day.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Amnesty International is reporting that a woman has been sentenced to 10 lashes for defying the ban on women drivers. Philip Luther of Amnesty International said on Tuesday, "Flogging is a cruel punishment in all circumstances but it beggars belief that the authorities in Saudi Arabia have imposed lashes on a woman apparently for merely driving a car."

He continued, "Allowing women to vote in council elections is all well and good, but if they are still going to face being flogged for trying to exercise their right to freedom of movement then the king's much trumpeted reforms' actually amount to very little."

At least two other women are facing similar charges, according to Amnesty International. 
In Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to drive. They are even required to have the permission of a male guardian to work, travel, and to have certain kinds of surgery.

For women, there is no official law that actually forbids driving, but there is a religious decree, which has virtually the same effect as law, and it keeps women from being issued licenses. Women caught driving may be punished for the crime of "defying the king's decree."

As part of the Arab Spring movement sweeping the Middle East, women have been calling for changes in Saudi Arabia. Among those changes, they have called for an end to the driving ban, saying that it is sometimes necessary to go out alone. Women have organized on social media and earlier this year several took to the streets in their cars to protest the ban.

On May 22, activist Manal Al-Sharif posted a video of herself driving on YouTube. She was arrested. And although she was subsequently released, her case discouraged many women from attempting to defy the ban. 

It is seemingly strange that in a world where the similar beating of an animal would stir passion and anger, there seems to be very little outrage over the sentencing. The U.S. government has not commented on the state-sanctioned flogging. 

Activist women in Saudi Arabia are preparing a petition to the king, asking that the sentence not be carried out. It remains to be seen if a country, so afraid of popular uprising that it has relaxed some of its ultra-strict rules and initiated billions in new annual spending, will also respond with moderation in cruelty.

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