It’s been seven years since Saudi Arabia passed a law that allows women to drive – as part of Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman’s initiative to strengthen the role of women in Saudi society. More women are taking on roles in the automotive industry including sports. A Saudi female driving enthusiast is using social media to empower women to earn their driver’s licenses and drive safely.
Just after the law was passed, some women activists were still detained, which discouraged many. Saudi Arabia is the latest country to relax social laws that prohibit women from enjoying certain liberties. But, Saudi TikTok star Balqees’s (@b9ths10) page has since gained 3 million likes – she is helping to teach women to drive. Balqees’ content covers topics such as safe driving, common driving blunders, and barriers in an engaging and instructive manner.
She also shows and discusses what to do in dangerous situations on the road. In an interview with Arab News, the popular woman influencer says that as a youngster, she started driving. After completing her studies in the UK in 2010, she returned to her home country and saw a need for more accessible and engaging driving education for women. She became a vocal advocate for women’s empowerment on the road.
Saudi Arabia is known to be one of the most conservative regimes in the world. The Crown Prince made a historical change when he announced sweeping advances for Saudi women, including the elimination of the country’s discriminatory male guardianship system. But the announcement was soon questioned by human rights watch groups, arguing that many of the women activists who championed these reforms remain on trial or in detention in retaliation for their rights advocacy.
The legal amendments, approved by a Council of Ministers decision and royal decree M.134, enable Saudi women to obtain passports without the consent of a male relative, register their children’s births, and benefit from additional protections against workplace discrimination. Saudi government sources have claimed that women over 21 will no longer require male guardian permission to travel overseas.
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Emirates Women, a beauty, fashion, and lifestyle magazine, has ranked six Saudi women as the most influential on social media, showing the world a new Saudi Arabia. The TikTok social media platform has opened a window to Saudi social life, breaking the stereotypes within the region and globally. Previously, Saudi women could not have prominent responsibilities, even as minor as influencing other women to be independent.
Senior women rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, Rothna Begum says: “Saudi Arabia’s long overdue legal reforms should provide Saudi women a much greater degree of control over their lives”. She reportedly called for the release of women activists who championed for the law reforms. Some women still remain behind bars serving their sentences, like Manahel al-Otaibi, a 29-year-old fitness instructor and women’s rights activist.
She was sentenced during a “secret hearing” before the Kingdom’s Specialized Criminal Court on January 9, 2024. She stands accused of terrorist offenses and was arrested under a legally valid warrant,” Saudi Arabia’s mission to Geneva said in a letter in January, in response to a UN request. Her story gained popularity with western media – prompting an inquest from the United Nations. Human rights activists claim that, while Saudi authorities have lifted some of the limitations on women under the male guardianship system, “many discriminatory features remain in place.
But Saudi women influencers like Balqees have proven them wrong with their engaging and informative content on social media. In its letter to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Kingdom’s mission to Geneva said that “no person is held in detention in Saudi Arabia for exercising their rights and freedoms,” and that “state institutions have a legal obligation to ensure that all individuals are treated fairly irrespective of their religion, race, sex or nationality”.
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