Saudi Women Start Their Engines on The Long Road to Equality

The Takeaway | Sep 27, 2017

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this interview. 

After decades of activism, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that it was lifting a longstanding ban on women driving.

The change, which is set to take effect in June 2018, was welcomed news to many, but women are still denied a variety of rights in the Kingdom.

Haifa Alhababi is an architect and university teacher in Saudi Arabia, and the first female political candidate in Saudi Arabia's elections several years back. She told The Takeaway that while this is a positive step, there is no infrastructure in place to support it in reality.

For more perspective on the historic change, we heard from Robin Wright, a joint fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a contributing writer to The New Yorker.

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich.

WNYC Homepage - Top Stories

Ask Mayor Mamdani: Childcare, Pedestrian Safety & Trans Healthcare

I.C.E.'s "Wartime Recruitment" Campaign

Who is ICE detaining at NJ's Delaney Hall? Not as many criminals as DHS suggests.

Shakespeare in the Park Tackles "Romeo and Juliet"

YOU ARE ONLINE