Manal al-Sharif
Encyclopedia
Manal al-Sharif is a women's rights
activist from Saudi Arabia
who helped start a women's right to drive campaign in 2011. A women's rights activist who had previously filmed herself driving, Wajeha al-Huwaider
, filmed al-Sharif driving a car as part of the campaign. The video was posted on YouTube
and Facebook
. Al-Sharif was detained and released on 21 May and rearrested the following day. On 30 May, al-Sharif was released on bail
, on the conditions of returning for questioning if requested, not driving and not talking to the media. The New York Times
and Associated Press
associated the women's driving campaign with the wider pattern of Arab world protests
and the long duration of al-Sharif's detention with Saudi authorities' fear of protests.
with a Bachelor of Science
in computing and an 'expert' Cisco Career Certification
. Since then, she has been an Internet Security Consultant working for Saudi Aramco
, the Saudi national oil company.
for many years. According to the New York Times, al-Sharif "has a reputation for pulling stunts to highlight the lack of rights for women". Regarding the 2011 women driving campaign, Amnesty International
stated that "Manal al-Sharif is following in a long tradition of women activists around the world who have put themselves on the line to expose and challenge discriminatory laws and policies".
drove their cars in protest, were imprisoned for one day, had their passports confiscated, and some of them lost their jobs. In September 2007, the Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia
, co-founded by Wajeha al-Huwaider
and Fawzia al-Uyyouni, gave a 1,100 signature petition to King Abdullah
asking for women to be allowed to drive. On International Women's Day
2008, Huwaider filmed herself driving and received international media attention after the video was posted on YouTube
. Inspired by the Arab Spring
, a woman from Jeddah
, Najla Hariri, started driving in the second week of May 2011, stating "Before in Saudi, you never heard about protests. [But] after what has happened in the Middle East, we started to accept a group of people going outside and saying what they want in a loud voice, and this has had an impact on me."
campaign named "Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself" or Women2Drive that says that women should be allowed to drive. The campaign calls for women to start driving from 17 June 2011. , about 12,000 readers of the Facebook page had expressed their support. Al-Sharif describes the action as acting within women's rights, and "not protesting". Wajeha al-Huwaider was impressed by the campaign and decided to help.
In late May, Al-Sharif drove her car in Khobar
with al-Huwaider filming. The video was posted to YouTube
and Facebook. In the video, al-Sharif stated, "This is a volunteer campaign to help the girls of this country [learn to drive]. At least for times of emergency, God forbid. What if whoever is driving them gets a heart attack?" She was detained by the religious police (CPVPV
) on 21 May and released after six hours. , about 600,000 people had watched the video.
The YouTube video of al-Sharif's drive became inaccessible at its original location, the Facebook page for the campaign was deleted, and the Twitter
account used by al-Sharif was "copied and altered". Supporters republished the original video and Facebook page and a summary of al-Sharif's five recommended rules for the 17 June campaign were published on a blog and by the New York Times.
On 22 May, al-Sharif was detained again and the Director General of Traffic Administration, Major-General Suleiman Al-Ajlan, was questioned by journalists regarding traffic regulations related to women driving. Al-Ajlan stated that the journalists should "put the question" to members of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia
. RTBF
suggested that al-Sharif had been sentenced to five days' imprisonment.
The New York Times described al-Sharif's campaign as a "budding protest movement" that the Saudi government tried to "swiftly extinguish". Associated Press
said that Saudi authorities "cracked down harder than usual on al-Sharif, after seeing her case become a rallying call for youths anxious for change" in the context of the 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests
. Both news organisations attributed the long duration of al-Sharif's detention with Saudi authorities' fear of a wider protest movement in Saudi Arabia
.
On 23 May, another woman was detained for driving a car. She drove with two women passengers in Ar Rass
and was detained by traffic police in the presence of the CPVPV. She was released after signing a statement that she would not drive again. In reaction to al-Sharif's arrest, several more Saudi women published videos of themselves driving during the following days.
On 24 May, Amnesty International
declared al-Sharif to be a prisoner of conscience
and called for her immediate and unconditional release. On 26 May, authorities said that al-Sharif would remain in detention until 5 June 2011, according to lawyer Waleed Aboul Khair. Al-Sharif was conditionally freed on 30 May. Her lawyer Adnan al-Saleh said that she was charged with "inciting
women to drive" and "rallying public opinion". , it is unknown whether or not the charges were dropped. The conditions of Al-Sharif's release include bail
, returning for questioning if requested, not driving and not talking to the media. As possible reasons for al-Sharif's early release, The National
cited al-Sharif having written a letter to King Abdullah
, 4,500 Saudis signing an online petition to the King, and "an outpouring of indignation and disbelief by both Saudis and critics abroad that Ms al-Sharif was jailed for something that is not a moral or criminal offence."
campaign called "Faraj" to release Saudi, Filipino
and Indonesian
women prisoners in the Dammam women's prison who "are locked up just because they owe a small sum of money but cannot afford to pay the debt". Al-Sharif said that the women prisoners were mostly domestic workers who remained in prison after completing their prison terms, because they could not pay their debts and because their former Saudi employers did not help to release them or fund their flights to return to their countries of origin. She referred to 22 Indonesian women and named four women needing help and stated the amount of their debts. She called for donations to be made directly to the director of the Dammam women's prison in order to reimburse the women's debts and free them.
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
activist from Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
who helped start a women's right to drive campaign in 2011. A women's rights activist who had previously filmed herself driving, Wajeha al-Huwaider
Wajeha al-Huwaider
Wajeha al-Huwaider is a female Saudi activist and writer. She is a co-founder of The Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia....
, filmed al-Sharif driving a car as part of the campaign. The video was posted on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. Al-Sharif was detained and released on 21 May and rearrested the following day. On 30 May, al-Sharif was released on bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
, on the conditions of returning for questioning if requested, not driving and not talking to the media. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
associated the women's driving campaign with the wider pattern of Arab world protests
2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
and the long duration of al-Sharif's detention with Saudi authorities' fear of protests.
Career
Manal al-Sharif graduated from King Abdulaziz UniversityKing Abdulaziz University
King Abdulaziz University was founded in 1967 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Designed by English architect John Elliott, it had 2,000 teachers and more than 37,000 students in 2000/2001....
with a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in computing and an 'expert' Cisco Career Certification
Cisco Career Certifications
Cisco Career Certifications are IT Professional certifications for Cisco Systems products. The tests are administered by Pearson VUE. There are five levels of certification: Entry, Associate, Professional, Expert, and Architect, as well as seven different paths, Routing & Switching, Design, Network...
. Since then, she has been an Internet Security Consultant working for Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco , officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia.Saudi Aramco is the world's largest and most valuable privately-held company, with estimates of its value in 2011 to be $7 trillion USD.Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves,...
, the Saudi national oil company.
Women's rights campaigns
In addition to her professional career, al-Sharif has campaigned for women's rights in Saudi ArabiaWomen's rights in Saudi Arabia
Women's rights in Saudi Arabia are defined by Islam and tribal customs. The Arabian peninsula is the ancestral home of patriarchal, nomadic tribes, in which purdah and namus are considered central....
for many years. According to the New York Times, al-Sharif "has a reputation for pulling stunts to highlight the lack of rights for women". Regarding the 2011 women driving campaign, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
stated that "Manal al-Sharif is following in a long tradition of women activists around the world who have put themselves on the line to expose and challenge discriminatory laws and policies".
Background
, women in Saudi Arabia have limited freedom of movement and in practice are not allowed to drive motor vehicles. In 1990, dozens of women in RiyadhRiyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
drove their cars in protest, were imprisoned for one day, had their passports confiscated, and some of them lost their jobs. In September 2007, the Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia
Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia
The Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia is a Saudi Non-governmental organization founded to provide activism for women's rights. It was founded by Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia Al-Uyyouni, and grew out of a 2007 movement to gain women the right to drive...
, co-founded by Wajeha al-Huwaider
Wajeha al-Huwaider
Wajeha al-Huwaider is a female Saudi activist and writer. She is a co-founder of The Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia....
and Fawzia al-Uyyouni, gave a 1,100 signature petition to King Abdullah
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is the King of Saudi Arabia. He succeeded to the throne on 1 August 2005 upon the death of his half-brother, King Fahd. When Crown Prince, he governed Saudi Arabia as regent from 1998 to 2005...
asking for women to be allowed to drive. On International Women's Day
International Women's Day
International Women's Day , originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and...
2008, Huwaider filmed herself driving and received international media attention after the video was posted on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. Inspired by the Arab Spring
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
, a woman from Jeddah
Jeddah
Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
, Najla Hariri, started driving in the second week of May 2011, stating "Before in Saudi, you never heard about protests. [But] after what has happened in the Middle East, we started to accept a group of people going outside and saying what they want in a loud voice, and this has had an impact on me."
2011 women driving campaign
In 2011, a group of women including Manal al-Sharif started a FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
campaign named "Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself" or Women2Drive that says that women should be allowed to drive. The campaign calls for women to start driving from 17 June 2011. , about 12,000 readers of the Facebook page had expressed their support. Al-Sharif describes the action as acting within women's rights, and "not protesting". Wajeha al-Huwaider was impressed by the campaign and decided to help.
In late May, Al-Sharif drove her car in Khobar
Khobar
Khobar is a large city located in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf. It has a population of 360,000 and forms part of the greater Dammam metropolitan area along with Dhahran, which together have a combined population of over two million...
with al-Huwaider filming. The video was posted to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and Facebook. In the video, al-Sharif stated, "This is a volunteer campaign to help the girls of this country [learn to drive]. At least for times of emergency, God forbid. What if whoever is driving them gets a heart attack?" She was detained by the religious police (CPVPV
Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia)
The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice or HAIA is the Saudi Arabian government bureaucracy employing "religious police" or mutaween to...
) on 21 May and released after six hours. , about 600,000 people had watched the video.
The YouTube video of al-Sharif's drive became inaccessible at its original location, the Facebook page for the campaign was deleted, and the Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account used by al-Sharif was "copied and altered". Supporters republished the original video and Facebook page and a summary of al-Sharif's five recommended rules for the 17 June campaign were published on a blog and by the New York Times.
On 22 May, al-Sharif was detained again and the Director General of Traffic Administration, Major-General Suleiman Al-Ajlan, was questioned by journalists regarding traffic regulations related to women driving. Al-Ajlan stated that the journalists should "put the question" to members of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia
Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia
The Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia also known as Majlis as-Shura or Shura Council is the formal advisory body of Saudi Arabia, which is an absolute monarchy. It cannot pass or enforce laws, a power reserved for the King. The Consultative Assembly has limited powers in government, including...
. RTBF
RTBF
Radio Télévision Belge Francophone is the public broadcasting organization of the French Community of Belgium, the southern, French-speaking part of Belgium...
suggested that al-Sharif had been sentenced to five days' imprisonment.
The New York Times described al-Sharif's campaign as a "budding protest movement" that the Saudi government tried to "swiftly extinguish". Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
said that Saudi authorities "cracked down harder than usual on al-Sharif, after seeing her case become a rallying call for youths anxious for change" in the context of the 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests
2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
. Both news organisations attributed the long duration of al-Sharif's detention with Saudi authorities' fear of a wider protest movement in Saudi Arabia
2011 Saudi Arabian protests
The 2011 Saudi Arabian protests have been influenced by the Arab Spring that started with the 2011 Tunisian revolution. One of the main online organisers of a planned 11 March "Day of Rage", Faisal Ahmed Abdul-Ahad , was alleged to have been killed by Saudi security forces on 2 March, by which time...
.
On 23 May, another woman was detained for driving a car. She drove with two women passengers in Ar Rass
Ar Rass
Rass is a Saudi Arabian town, located in the Al Qassim Province. It lies southwest of Buraydah, the capital of the province and also north of Riyadh, the national capital....
and was detained by traffic police in the presence of the CPVPV. She was released after signing a statement that she would not drive again. In reaction to al-Sharif's arrest, several more Saudi women published videos of themselves driving during the following days.
On 24 May, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
declared al-Sharif to be a prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views...
and called for her immediate and unconditional release. On 26 May, authorities said that al-Sharif would remain in detention until 5 June 2011, according to lawyer Waleed Aboul Khair. Al-Sharif was conditionally freed on 30 May. Her lawyer Adnan al-Saleh said that she was charged with "inciting
Incitement
In English criminal law, incitement was an anticipatory common law offence and was the act of persuading, encouraging, instigating, pressuring, or threatening so as to cause another to commit a crime....
women to drive" and "rallying public opinion". , it is unknown whether or not the charges were dropped. The conditions of Al-Sharif's release include bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
, returning for questioning if requested, not driving and not talking to the media. As possible reasons for al-Sharif's early release, The National
The National (Abu Dhabi)
The National is a government-owned English-language daily newspaper published in Abu Dhabi. The editor-in-chief since June 8, 2009 has been Hassan Fattah. Prior to this, and from the launch of the newspaper Martin Newland was editor-in-chief. Mubadala Development Company, an investment company...
cited al-Sharif having written a letter to King Abdullah
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is the King of Saudi Arabia. He succeeded to the throne on 1 August 2005 upon the death of his half-brother, King Fahd. When Crown Prince, he governed Saudi Arabia as regent from 1998 to 2005...
, 4,500 Saudis signing an online petition to the King, and "an outpouring of indignation and disbelief by both Saudis and critics abroad that Ms al-Sharif was jailed for something that is not a moral or criminal offence."
2011 women prisoners campaign
Following her 30 May release from prison, al-Sharif started a TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
campaign called "Faraj" to release Saudi, Filipino
Filipinos in Saudi Arabia
Filipinos in Saudi Arabia are either migrants or descendants of the Philippines living in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is currently the largest hirer of Overseas Filipino Workers , and has the largest Filipino population in the Middle East...
and Indonesian
Indonesians in Saudi Arabia
Indonesians in Saudi Arabia consist largely of female domestic workers, with a minority of other types of labour migrants., an estimated 850,000 Indonesians were believed to be working in Saudi Arabia, comparable to the numbers of migrants from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Sudan, and Egypt, but...
women prisoners in the Dammam women's prison who "are locked up just because they owe a small sum of money but cannot afford to pay the debt". Al-Sharif said that the women prisoners were mostly domestic workers who remained in prison after completing their prison terms, because they could not pay their debts and because their former Saudi employers did not help to release them or fund their flights to return to their countries of origin. She referred to 22 Indonesian women and named four women needing help and stated the amount of their debts. She called for donations to be made directly to the director of the Dammam women's prison in order to reimburse the women's debts and free them.